With more than 76 percent of eligible Concord voters voting, incumbent School Board candidate Bill Glahn was ousted from the board today by three newcomers including two who do not have long ties to the community.
Jack Dunn, Kevin Fleming, and Eric Williams were elected to the 3-year seats on the board by solid margins, according to unofficial election returns posted by the city clerk. Clint Cogswell easily won the 1-year seat.
Dunn, who has lived in the city for about a year, received 7,086 votes. Fleming, who moved to Concord three years ago, came in at 6,715, and Williams came in at 6,480. Glahn came in fourth with 5912. Paul Halvorsen received 5698 and Eric Weiner earned 5587.
Glahn did win Ward 5 but was way behind the others around the city. Dunn won Wards 2 and 6 with Fleming taking 1, 8, and 9. Williams won Ward 3 and 10. Dunn and Williams tied for first in Ward 4. Halvorsen won his home Ward 7 where he was once a city councilor.
Williams sent out an email to supporters early this morning thanking them for all their hard work.
"With four new board members, we have a chance to make positive changes on the school board," he wrote. "I will do my best on the board, and will continue to seek your counsel over the next three years"
Both Dunn and Williams were active at polling locations around the city with Williams talking to voters at Ward 5 and Dunn supporters wearing bright red T-shirts while handing out an extensive double-sided leaflet which talked about all kinds of different ideas the candidate wanted to implement on the board level. Glahn, Weiner, Williams, and Cogswell all had signs around town. Weiner also received the endorsement of outgoing board member Betty Hoadley.
Unlike last year, the Concord Monitor's endorsement didn't seem to help out Glahn or Halvorsen like it did unknowns like Laura Bonk. That could be because of the low turnout in the 2007 city elections.
Republican MacKay loses Rep. seat
In District 11 [Wards 4, 8, 9, and 10], incumbent and long-time activist Rep. Jim McKay, a Republican, lost his seat. MacKay received 3,475 votes, less than 200 votes shy of a squeaked out fifth place finish. Newcomer and Democrat Michael Barlett [3,659] will join incumbent Democrats Rep. Tara Reardon, Rep. Candace Bouchard, Rep. Bob Williams, and Rep. John DeJoie. Republican candidates Lynne Ferrari Blankenbeker [2,701], Elizabeth Cheney [2,599], Jeff Newman [2,243], and Margaret Carnahan [2,110] rounded out the field.
Dems sweep District 12
In District 12 [Wards 5, 6, and 7], Democrats swept all four seats. Incumbent Rep. Mary Jane Wallner led the pack with 3,663 votes. Long-time Democratic activist Chip Rice came in second with 3,475. Rep. Jessie Osborne received 3,305 votes and challenger Rick Watrous rounded out the pack with 3,005 votes.
Republican John Kalb received 1,916 votes. No official results are available from the Liz Hager write-in attempt but I'm told unofficially that it was around 700 strong - far too short to come close to winning.
District 10 remains Democratic
In District 10 [Wards 1, 2 and 3], Democratic incumbents Mary Stuart Gile, Steve Shurtleff, and Fran Potter join newly elected Democrat William Stetson.
Losses by Hager and McKay means that the city is entirely represented at the State House by Democrats.
Jack Dunn, Kevin Fleming, and Eric Williams were elected to the 3-year seats on the board by solid margins, according to unofficial election returns posted by the city clerk. Clint Cogswell easily won the 1-year seat.
Dunn, who has lived in the city for about a year, received 7,086 votes. Fleming, who moved to Concord three years ago, came in at 6,715, and Williams came in at 6,480. Glahn came in fourth with 5912. Paul Halvorsen received 5698 and Eric Weiner earned 5587.
Glahn did win Ward 5 but was way behind the others around the city. Dunn won Wards 2 and 6 with Fleming taking 1, 8, and 9. Williams won Ward 3 and 10. Dunn and Williams tied for first in Ward 4. Halvorsen won his home Ward 7 where he was once a city councilor.
Williams sent out an email to supporters early this morning thanking them for all their hard work.
"With four new board members, we have a chance to make positive changes on the school board," he wrote. "I will do my best on the board, and will continue to seek your counsel over the next three years"
Both Dunn and Williams were active at polling locations around the city with Williams talking to voters at Ward 5 and Dunn supporters wearing bright red T-shirts while handing out an extensive double-sided leaflet which talked about all kinds of different ideas the candidate wanted to implement on the board level. Glahn, Weiner, Williams, and Cogswell all had signs around town. Weiner also received the endorsement of outgoing board member Betty Hoadley.
Unlike last year, the Concord Monitor's endorsement didn't seem to help out Glahn or Halvorsen like it did unknowns like Laura Bonk. That could be because of the low turnout in the 2007 city elections.
Republican MacKay loses Rep. seat
In District 11 [Wards 4, 8, 9, and 10], incumbent and long-time activist Rep. Jim McKay, a Republican, lost his seat. MacKay received 3,475 votes, less than 200 votes shy of a squeaked out fifth place finish. Newcomer and Democrat Michael Barlett [3,659] will join incumbent Democrats Rep. Tara Reardon, Rep. Candace Bouchard, Rep. Bob Williams, and Rep. John DeJoie. Republican candidates Lynne Ferrari Blankenbeker [2,701], Elizabeth Cheney [2,599], Jeff Newman [2,243], and Margaret Carnahan [2,110] rounded out the field.
Dems sweep District 12
In District 12 [Wards 5, 6, and 7], Democrats swept all four seats. Incumbent Rep. Mary Jane Wallner led the pack with 3,663 votes. Long-time Democratic activist Chip Rice came in second with 3,475. Rep. Jessie Osborne received 3,305 votes and challenger Rick Watrous rounded out the pack with 3,005 votes.
Republican John Kalb received 1,916 votes. No official results are available from the Liz Hager write-in attempt but I'm told unofficially that it was around 700 strong - far too short to come close to winning.
District 10 remains Democratic
In District 10 [Wards 1, 2 and 3], Democratic incumbents Mary Stuart Gile, Steve Shurtleff, and Fran Potter join newly elected Democrat William Stetson.
Losses by Hager and McKay means that the city is entirely represented at the State House by Democrats.
4 comments:
Tony did you hear Rep. Shurtleff on local cable explain the break down for electing school board members? sounds good to me, Newly elected Dunn does not favor it because he says school board members represent everyone . Guess he hasnt lived in Concord long enough to know the influence "the hill" has and the favoritism shown to Kimball School. Wonder if he has read the Dore-Whittier report?
I didn't see cable last night because I was working and didn't get home until 12:30 a.m. But, I will definitely be thinking about Shurtleff's proposal and writing about it. I have commented already about it and I could go either way.
As well, I have been thinking about the board elections in general a lot and how the turnout varies between years. Look at this year ... it took 7,000 to win for Fleming who ran no real ground campaign ... Glahn, well known in the city, is ousted even though he received more than 5,900 votes [though he doesn't seem to have run any campaign beyond hanging up signs and doing interviews] ... in a non-presidential or mid-term election, Jennifer Patterson won with 2,800 ... Laura Bonk came in third but won with 1,900. So, in one year it took almost four times as many votes to win as another year. That doesn't seem fair or representative. Maybe they should all be elected in the odd numbered years just like the council is elected all the time.
In addition, the school board campaigns are way too short. Starting in early September for a November election is not enough time for the candidates to get to know the voters or for us to get to know the candidates. The only thing I know about It would seem better to start in June.
"THE HILL"
there are just 2 current members on the school board that live in ward 5. 4 members live on the east side. 2 live in ward 4. 1 member in ward 3.
So... whats the "HILL" influence?
Yeah, I would have to question "the hill" comment too. Maybe the poster is thinking about the old days when there were a lot more Ward 5 folks on the board. Although, technically, doesn't one of the Ward 4 people live north of White Park? That would be "the hill" in my book. So, there's three, right?
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