When the filing period closed for positions on the Bexar County’s appraisal district board, two left-leaning candidates were angling for the same seat, while a newly appointed conservative was cruising to reelection without a challenger.
The board’s three elected positions are nonpartisan and serve primarily administrative roles.
But after conservatives in North Texas used the new elected positions to push dramatic changes to Tarrant County’s appraisal process two years ago, both parties have started paying closer attention to them — and lining up candidates to compete.
This year that includes former Democratic state Rep. Diana Arévalo (D-San Antonio) — who filed for a last-minute opening to replace Place 1 incumbent Naomi Elizabeth Miller, who isn’t seeking reelection.
Earlier this year, Arévalo was also one of 15 applicants who sought a temporary opening on the board to replace the late Place 3 incumbent Robert “Bob” Bruce. But the board’s ad-hoc committee passed her over to appoint Americans for Prosperity grassroots organizer Jon Melendez, whose conservative politics put him in close alignment with Bruce.
Now Melendez is running unopposed for a full term this November as of Monday’s ballot deadline — surprising some Democrats who failed to field a challenger in one of the state’s biggest blue strongholds.
A different local conservative, Susan Meryl Bayne, moved quickly to run in Place 1 after Miller, a longtime district director for former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio), decided not to run.
“One party got organized,” said Place 2 incumbent Erika Hizel, a Democrat who now faces a challenge from Leticia Anguiano, a fellow Democrat.
Throughout the filing process, multiple candidates said there was confusion about where to file and little clarity about who was already running.
The appraisal district serves Bexar County, but it’s technically an arm of the state.
Its staff asked candidates to file at the Bexar County Elections Department, which only posted a list of the candidates running on the day of the deadline — after county officials were peppered with complaints.
Originally, all three incumbents said they planned to seek another term.
In their first year, they secured a one-year reprieve for people who successfully challenged their property valuations — something they’d hoped to build on further this year.
But Bruce died unexpectedly in March, and Miller ultimately decided that she didn’t want to campaign through an increasingly partisan environment.
When the positions were first on the ballot in 2024, the election was held in May because the Texas Legislature wanted to get them in place before meat of their work took place that fall.
Now these roles are on the ballot in November, alongside races like the U.S. Senate contest between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico.
2026 Voter Guide: Who’s running in the midterm elections?
Miller said there’s still so much confusion about what the appraisal board does, and after interviewing candidates to fill Bruce’s open position this year, she realized the candidates were starting to take a turn.
“They’re talking about eliminating property taxes. They’re talking about taking the poverty level into consideration when we do assessments — all of these things that we (the appraisal district board) had no control over,” Miller said.
2026 BCAD candidates
Place 1: Incumbent Naomi Elizabeth Miller isn’t seeking reelection. Two candidates are running to replace her: Diana Arévalo and Susan Meryl Bayne.
Place 2: Incumbent Erika Hizel is running for a second term. She faces one challenger: Leticia Anguiano.
Place 3: Temporary appointee Jon Melendez is running unopposed for a full term.
