Election results: Gorman, MacFarland still leading Shasta County Board of Education race
Voters on Tuesday made their voices heard on numerous contested school board races throughout Shasta County.
In eight school districts, 44 candidates competed for a total of 24 open seats, according to data from Shasta County. That includes one write-in candidate who was added on Oct. 24.
The high interest in serving on school boards comes in the wake of the pandemic. There have been statewide post-pandemic drops in student test scores in math, teacher shortages and parents are still upset over school closures and masking during COVID-19.
Challengers made inroads in several districts, including the Shasta County Board of Education Area 2 election.
As of midnight Tuesday, challenger Arthur Gorman had widened his lead in early results in that race.
Gorman now has 27.92% of the vote, followed by incumbents Steve MacFarland with 25.11% and Rhonda "Hookham" Hull with 20.32%.
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A registered nurse and youth sports coach, Gorman said in his candidate statement that students "suffered from unequal education" over the past two years, and "we must work hard to overcome the generational harm done to our children."
In the Gateway Unified School District Area 3, challenger Lindsi Haynes was in the lead with 57.20% of the vote. Incumbent Debbie Bourne had 42.8%.
In the Gateway Unified School District Area 2, challenger Cherrill Clifford and incumbent Dale R. Wallace were neck in neck, both registering 36.06% of the vote shortly before midnight on Tuesday.
Challengers Staci Adams (28.39%) and Jackie LaBarbera (25.95%) were also leading incumbents Ron Brown (22.54%) and Joseph Gibson (23.11%) in the Anderson Union High School District, which has three open seats.
In the Enterprise School District, three incumbents were comfortably in the lead for three seats: Scott J. Swendiman (29.21%), Bonnie Hyatt (25.75%) and Andrew Shaddix (25.12%). Challenger Kelley Martin had 19.93% of the vote late Tuesday.
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In the Millville School District, challengers Beth Watt (24.34%), Whitney Hathaway (24.04%) and Taryn Ham (22.52%)were outpacing incumbents Kristi Poole (15.31%) and Lucas Wilson (13.79%).
The first round count comes from mailed and hand-delivered ballots that arrived at the election office before Tuesday. An updated count will be provided Friday, the Shasta County Elections Office said.
Scroll down for previous updates and results.
11:57 p.m. Tuesday: Gorman's lead grows in Shasta County Board of Ed race
Challenger Arthur Gorman widened his lead in early results in the Shasta County Board of Education Area 2 race.
Gorman now has 27.92% of the vote. That increased his lead over incumbent Steve MacFarland, who has 25.11% of the vote.
The top two vote-getters will be seated on the board.
Shasta County races to watch: See live results for contested races
11:07 p.m.: Gorman gains razor-thin lead in Shasta County Board of Ed race
Challenger Arthur Gorman is now in the lead in early results in the Shasta County Board of Education Area 2 race.
Gorman has 27.10% of the vote, putting him in the No. 1 spot. He leads incumbent Steve MacFarland, who has 26.09% of the vote.
The initial vote count comes from mailed and hand-delivered ballots that arrived at the election office before Tuesday.
10:34 p.m.: Shasta County Board of Ed sees Gorman lead grow
Incumbent Steve MacFarland saw his lead shrink slightly, to 27.20%, in the latest round of election results in the Shasta County Board of Education Area 2 race. Challenger Arthur Gorman saw his early vote count rise slightly, to 26.07%.
The race for one spot on the Shasta College Area B board was in a dead heat, with challenger Peggy Colwell's share of the early vote rising to 49.97%. Incumbent Patrick Carr followed, with 49.20% of the early vote.
In Shasta College Area F, Michelle Hickok charged ahead to a 84.86% of the early vote. The other candidate, Byron Hotchkiss, had 15.14% of the vote.
In the Gateway Unified School District Area 3 race, challenger Lindsi Haynes pulled ahead to 53.29% of the early vote. Incumbent Debbie Bourne had 46.71% of the vote, according to the latest results release.
9:30 p.m.: What the early results show
In Gateway Unified School District Area 3, where one seat is at stake, the race is tight. Challenger Lindsi Haynes has 50.56% of the early vote, leading incumbent Debbie Bourne, who has received 49.44%.
In Gateway Unified School District Area 2, it's incumbent Dale R. Wallace in the lead with 39.10% of the early vote, followed by challenger Cherrill Clifford, who has 33.64%.
All three incumbents in the Enterprise School District are out ahead. Scott J. Swendiman has 29.70% of the early vote, followed by Bonnie Hyatt with 27.84% and Andrew W. Shaddix with 25.98%.
Two challengers are leading in early results in the Millville School District: Whitney Hathaway with 21.27% and Beth Watt with 21.09%.
The first count comes from mailed and hand-delivered ballots that arrived at the election office before Tuesday.
8:24 p.m.: Shasta County Board of Education, Area 2
Early results show that one incumbent is ahead so far in the race for the Shasta County Board of Education, Area 2.
Steve MacFarland has 28.11% of the vote, according to the preliminary results released shortly after polls in Shasta County closed at 8 p.m.
Challenger Arthur Gorman is in second place, with 25.34% of the vote, according to the first results.
The other incumbent in the race, Rhonda “Hookham” Hull, has 23.43% of the vote.
Challenger Richard Gallardo has 15.67%, while Dolores Lucero has 7.46% of the vote.
The first count comes from mailed and hand-delivered ballots that arrived at the election office before Tuesday.
The top two vote-getters will take seats on the board.
9:30 p.m.: What the early results show
In Gateway Unified School District Area 3, where one seat is at stake, the race is tight. Challenger Lindsi Haynes has 50.56% of the early vote, leading incumbent Debbie Bourne, who has received 49.44%.
In Gateway Unified School District Area 2, it's incumbent Dale R. Wallace in the lead with 39.10% of the early vote, followed by challenger Cherrill Clifford, who has 33.64%.
All three incumbents in the Enterprise School District are out ahead. Scott J. Swendiman has 29.70% of the early vote, followed by Bonnie Hyatt with 27.84% and Andrew W. Shaddix with 25.98%.
Two challengers are leading in early results in the Millville School District: Whitney Hathaway with 21.27% and Beth Watt with 21.09%.
6 a.m.: Original story
Voters on Tuesday decide on numerous contested school board races throughout Shasta County.
In eight school districts, 44 candidates are vying for a total of 24 open seats, according to data from Shasta County. That includes one write-in candidate who was added on Oct. 24.
The race that is receiving the most attention is Shasta County Board of Education, Area 2, where two incumbents Rhonda “Hookham” Hull and Steve MacFarland are defending their seats against three challengers.
They are:
Dolores Lucero, who is also a candidate for Shasta Lake City Council. Lucero was recalled from a previous term on the council on April 10, 2012.
Richard Gallardo, a commercial driver and a vehement opponent to masking, testing and other restrictions during the COVID pandemic — calling them "unlawful" in his candidate statement.
Arthur Gorman, a registered nurse and youth sports coach, who said in his candidate statement students "suffered from unequal education" over the past two years, and "we must work hard to overcome the generational harm done to our children."
Other races drawing high interest include those for three open seats each on the Cascade Union School District and Shasta Union High School District. Both races attracted six candidates for three open seats.
The high interest in serving on school boards comes in the wake of the pandemic. There have been statewide post-pandemic drops in student test scores in math, teacher shortages and parents are still upset over school closures and masking during COVID-19.
"Certainly we had heard on social media ahead of the election that there was a higher than typical interest in running for school boards, mainly due to issues connected with mandates and COVID," Darling Allen told the Record Searchlight. "That was anecdotal, however, and we’d need to do a deeper dive (probably post-election) to determine how those numbers compare to previous elections.”
And state officials are bracing for potential change on school boards.
Joe Ross, president of the California County Boards of Education advocacy group, said to the Record Searchlight that the association has retooled its 2016 governance handbook, which spells out the range of decision-making that school board members possess.
Rounding out the list of contested school board races are:
Anderson Union High School District
Enterprise School District
Fall River Joint Unified School District
Gateway Unified School District, with races in areas 2 and 3
Millville School District
Additionally, some south Shasta County residents will also vote in a Tehama County race for Red Bluff High School District board. For more information go to the Tehama County Elections Office website at bit.ly/3EdYtk4.
Shasta County voters also will decide on the Shasta College Trustee seats for areas B and F.
For a full list of the contested races, click here.
Michele Chandler covers criminal justice issues for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Follow her on Twitter at @MChandler_RS, call her at 530-338-7753 or email her at michele.chandler@redding.com. Please support our entire newsroom's commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Election results: Challengers strong in Shasta school board races
