A day that saw victory and defeat for many ended at 8pm last evening as the polls closed for another school board election season. Below are the results for all the Delaware school board elections. Congrats to the victors. For those who lost, I’ve been there. It sucks. You just have to pick yourself up again and move on. Some run again and some we don’t hear from again in that arena. Voter turnout was mixed in some districts. Altogether though, given the population of various districts and the importance of local school board elections, they could all use more citizens voting.
Using Capital as an example, 239 votes were cast. Capital has over 5,000 students. It is in the heart of Dover. Turnout last year was around the 500 mark. Folks say signs don’t vote, which could be true, but they also bring constant awareness about the election date. Last year, myself and my two opponents littered the town with campaign signs. This year, I barely saw any. I heard some say they knew nothing about either of the candidates so why even bother voting. That is when you seek that candidate out if they don’t have an online presence.
I spent the evening up in Red Clay territory. Both of the schools I went to had events going on that night. Not in an attempt to dissuade voters, but to draw more people out to vote. As a result, Red Clay had the largest number of voters out of all the districts with over 2,100 votes cast. In my eyes, that is still low turnout given Red Clay’s student population, but it shows how community participation can lead to higher numbers in an election.
We need to elect our State Board of Education members like this. None of this “Governor appointed” stuff. Statewide elections, for each seat.
Without further ado, here are the “unofficial” results of the 2017 Delaware School Board elections.
Appoquinimink
Charlisa Edelin: 301 votes, Keinna McKnight: 206, Trevor Tucker: 24 votes
Brandywine
John Skrobot III: 402 votes, Alma Melina Gillis: 332
Caesar Rodney
David Failing: 495, Tawanna Prophet-Brinkley: 126, Alan Claycomb: 57
Capital
Joan Loewenstein-Engel: 154, Andy Ortiz: 85
Christina, District B
Angela Mitchell: 480, Justin Day: 457, Monica Moriak: 232, Karen Sobotker: 72
Christina, District G
Meredith Griffin Jr.: 828, Jeff Day: 369, Kimara Smith: 170
Lake Forest
Phillip Thomas: 294, Stephanie Justiano Johnson: 220, Austin Auen: 59
Milford
Ronald Evans: 227, Michael McKain: 124, Jason Miller: 96, Michael Firch: 79, Michael Wells: 52
Red Clay
Ashley Sabo: 1,142, Henry Clampitt: 833, Thomas Pappenhagen: 152
Seaford
Michael Kraft: 314, John Hanenfeld: 198
Smyrna
Vetra Evans-Gunter: 292, Karin Sweeney: 31
Woodbridge
Paul Breeding: 209, Darrynn Harris: 11
The Season Of Myths 