Last Saturday, May 6, on Texas’ second uniform election date other than the second Tuesday in November, African Americans, Hispanics, and Indian Americans won big milestones in suburban city and school board races that determine metrics in taxes, the quality of life, and the quality of education where minority families have been moving.

• In Fort Bend ISD, which for decades has been one of the most diverse and fastest growing school districts in the country, Dr. Shirley Rose Gilliam won Pos. 4 with the local Republican Party and conservative groups working against her. Rose Gilliam emphasized her 40 years of experience in education, leadership, and the Fort Bend area. She was tireless in her campaign, and with her family and friends, she prevailed. Sonya Jones, M.Ed., beat an incumbent and three others for Pos. 5 by stressing student and fiscal discipline. "It is my prayer that we come together," she said.

Humble ISD Trustee Marques Holmes won big by building bridges across Kingwood for taxpayers, parents, and teachers with an amazingly positive approach, even when in his stride he faced alienation from the TEA Party and right-wing extremists. His family, faith, and fiscal restraint guided him. He expanded his base to both sides of the San Jac.

Stafford City Council Member Ken Matthew, with an MBA from the University of Detroit and unprecedented decades of local corporate business and city public service leadership, was tirelessly campaigning with his family and friends. He won a June run-off to become his city’s first Asian and first Indian American mayor.

Stafford City Council Member Xavier Herrera won 80 percent of the vote, bringing family and friends together with his exhaustive civic experience and expertise in municipal management. His mission was to bring black, Hispanic, and Asian voters together. He achieved it. Virginia Rosas worked tenaciously to earn her way back to city council. Adam Sanchez, a young, persevering public servant, brought their second child into the world with his wife in April and won the Stafford school board in May.