Cisneros, Pannunzio, Maes and Thiebaut win Pueblo D60 school board races

The Pueblo School District 60 board of education will look a lot different following Tuesday night's election.

Brian Cisneros, Susan Pannunzio, Dennis Maes and Bill Thiebaut are poised to be sworn in as new board members, according to final unofficial election results from the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder's Office. Results are accurate as of Wednesday morning.

The four winning candidates, none of whom are incumbents, will occupy four of the five seats on the Pueblo D60 board. Cisneros, Pannunzio, Maes and Thiebaut will join board director Kathy DeNiro — who was elected to serve a four-year term in November 2021.

How many votes did candidates receive?

This year, Pannunzio, Maes and Thiebaut emerged from a pool of seven candidates running for a trio of four-year seats on the board. Cisneros defeated incumbent Anthony Perko in a race to occupy the lone two-year seat.

Pannunzio, a retired Pueblo D60 teacher, received 10,801 votes — more than any other candidate hoping to serve a four-year term on the board. Maes followed with 10,446 votes and Thiebaut received 10,150 votes.

"My hope is that we can formulate a common vision and develop strong, solid working relationships so we can do all we can to do what's best for kids and this community," Pannunzio said. "I'm looking forward to working with all of the all of the individuals that will be on the board."

With 9,997 votes, incumbent Sol Sandoval trailed slightly behind Thiebaut. Fellow incumbent Tommy Farrell received 6,944 votes, Dan Comden received 6,716 votes and Roger Wright received 5,545 votes. Cisneros received 13,628 votes in his victory over Perko, who received 12,213 votes.

"I'm just really thankful for all the support I got," Cisneros said. "I want to congratulate my opponent for running a good race as well. I'm just really excited to get to work now."

There's 'lessons to be learned' from election, Maes said

Dennis Maes, a retired chief district judge for Colorado's 10th Judicial District who previously served on the Pueblo D60 board from 2017 to 2021, said this year's school board election was a "rather interesting election" with a "whole lot of lessons to be learned."

Maes was the only school board candidate to not receive endorsements from the Pueblo County Democrats, Pueblo County Republican Party, Pueblo Education Association nor Forging the Future. He did, however, receive an endorsement from the Pueblo Association of Realtors.

More: Complete local election results

Maes said the results of Tuesday night's election show that local voters are skeptical of campaigns being funded by organizations outside Pueblo, including the Colorado Education Association.

Farrell, Perko, Sandoval and Theibaut each reported receiving close to $20,000 worth of in-kind contributions from CEA's small donor committee before the last the last campaign finance filing period ended on Oct. 25. Funds were gathered by the committee through donations from Colorado educators.

"We're a proud community and we like to stand on our own," Maes said. "We don't like people from out of town telling us what our institutions should look like and how they should run."

Incumbents did 'admirable work,' Thiebaut said

Thiebaut, a former Pueblo district attorney and state legislator, had high praise for the three incumbents that will lose their board seats following the election. He said the three incumbents, along with the term-limited Barb Clementi, did "admirable work" while on the board.

Perko and Sandoval both served for a relatively short time after being appointed to fill board vacancies in late 2022.

"I think (Perko and Sandoval) worked hard and were true to their beliefs," Theibaut said. "They will continue, I'm sure, to be part of public education in one way or another. I know they have the heart to do that."

Farrell, who has served on the board for the past four years, has been consistent in his dedication to giving students "the opportunity for public education," Thiebaut said.

"I just think that sometimes the electorate is just ready for something new," Thiebaut said. "In my instance, I was offering them some bold ideas that are new... hopefully I'll be able to demonstrate their confidence in me and achieve some of those things — if not all of them."

Elections 2023: Pueblo mayoral election update: Graham maintains lead after final batch of results

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: 2023 Pueblo D60 school board race results