Upsets in many school board elections
In four of the most widely contested school board races in recent history, several incumbents were unseated Tuesday in their bid for re-election.
The Gainesville school board will have three new members - Wes Uchtman, Jeff Nash and Billy Pippin - unseating incumbents Steve Rackley and David Miller.
Nash earned the most votes with 251, followed closely by Uchtman with 242 and Pippin with 238 votes. Miller earned 158 votes while Rackley earned 157. Rounding out the field were John Abraham with 137 and Kerrie Zubrod with 77. There was one write-in vote.
Following Gainesville's trend, Lutie voters ousted two of the three incumbents running. Incumbent Julie Vaught was the only person re-elected to her position on the school board. Vaught earned 273 votes. Joining Vaught will be Gina Davis with 259 votes and, in an unusual turn of events, a write-in candidate won a position on the school board, Joan Kyle-Henningsen with 155 votes.
Lutie incumbents Josh Johns and Jeff Terry were not re-elected. Johns had 95 votes, while Terry had 122. Also earning votes were Stephanie Ashley with 27, Jen Schultz with 88, and 10 miscellaneous write-in votes.
Dora school board incumbent Edward L. Lee was re-elected with 114 votes. Don Hamby, with 205 votes, and Lindsay M. Collins, with 112 votes, will join Lee on the Dora school board.
Rounding out the Dora field was Connie Collins with 68 votes, Coldin Carter with 67, Jeffrey Strong with 54, incumbent Jay Smith with 48, incumbent Tara Land with 34, Niki Luna with 26, Susanna Brown-Hobbs with 13 and one write-in vote.
Bakersfield was the only school district to re-elect both incumbents to the school board. Mike Zimmer and Kevin Kuk, with 85 and 105 votes respectively, will be joined by Bill Talley, who earned 109 votes. Debbie Mahan earned 59 votes.
City and village races
With 30 votes, Dianna Stover will retain her position on the Bakersfield board of trustees. A second position, previously held by Greg Watts, remains empty for the present. There were six write-in votes.
Gay Strong was elected to the position she currently holds as Gainesville west ward alderman, and east ward alderman Treva Warrick will also keep her seat on the Gainesville board of aldermen. Strong and Warrick were both appointed to their current positions. Strong replaced former alderman Tom Taylor when he moved out of the city limits. Warrick was appointed after Steven Hutchings resigned.
Gregory James Zubrod will join Strong, Warrick and the other three alderman.
Norm Jarrett will remain on the Theodosia board of trustees, with 40 votes. Bret Cook was elected with 44 votes.
All results are unofficial.
