Leyva wins second term on Washington School Board

Sonia Leyva, who ran in the only contested race in the Washington Community School District, will remain on the school board for a second term. According to early polling results, Leyva won by a slim margin, receiving 50.41 percent of the vote. The school board member ran for the District 4 seat against Evan Young, a newcomer who received 238 of the 484 ballots that were cast.

Leyva said she is 'really excited and happy to be serving another four years.”

'I'm looking forward to continuing to help the community and our students and our youth. I love working with the youth and I'm happy with the results ... I'm super grateful to the community and that they believe in me. I want to continue to work with our students and continue providing opportunities. Regardless of background, language they speak, abilities or disabilities, everybody should feel like they're having the same opportunities.” Leyva noted about what she hopes to accomplish in her second term.

'I'm excited to continue to learn more, to continue working with the current school board members, to learn and grow and serve my community,” Leyva concluded.

The three other school board seats in Washington Community School District were filled by Eric Turner, Kelly Smith and Troy Suchan. Turner, the at-large candidate and incumbent, received 97.03 percent (490 votes) of the 505 ballots cast. Smith, the only uncontested newcomer, received 98.73 percent (465) of the 471 votes that were cast. Suchan received 456 votes (98.70 percent).

In the Mt. Pleasant Community School District, four school board seats were open, all uncontested races. Angela Blint won the District 3 seat, with 552 of the 555 votes (99.46 percent) in her favor. Only three ballots cast for the District 3 seat were write-ins. Chuck Andrew, who ran for the District 4 seat, similarly received 99.45 percent of the votes in his favor (539 of 542 votes), with only three votes cast as write-ins. Joshua Maher and Jennifer Crull, who ran for the two at-large seats, received 489 and 490 votes respectively, each receiving just over 49 percent of the vote. In the race for the at-large school board seats, nine of the 988 total votes were write-ins.

The Mt. Pleasant Community School District's Public Measure A, which was for the extension of the existing Voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (VPPEL) passed with 82.12 percent of the 565 votes in favor of the measure. 101 of the votes were not in favor of the measure.

In the Fairfield Community School District, four at-large seats were open with only two candidates running. Timothy Bower received 37.36 percent of the vote, while Christi Karbacka Welsh received 40.91 percent. 21.53 percent of the 4,124 ballots cast for the at-large seats were write-in votes, which may determine who will fill the two vacancies.