Official results trigger another run for Orange County school board candidates in May
The story was updated March 15, 2024.
Voters in the Orange County Schools district will fill a third and final board seat in the May runoff election, according to official results released Friday.
The final vote confirmed incumbent board member Carrie Doyle and newcomer Wendy Padilla won enough votes in the March 5 primary to fill two seats of three available seats on the board. However, incumbent board member Jennifer Moore, who finished third, only received 6,528 votes. That was 60 votes short of the majority needed to win her seat.
She will face fellow board member Bonnie Hauser in the May 14 runoff election. Hauser finished fourth with 6,406 votes — 482 fewer than Moore received — in the official count Friday at the Orange County Board Elections.
In Orange County, state law requires dividing the total votes cast for all the candidates by the number of open seats, in this case three. That number is then divided by two, in this case requiring each winning candidate to have at least 6,588 votes.
Hauser announced Tuesday that she would seek a runoff in the nonpartisan Orange County Schools Board of Education race, because the “election is really important to our students and families, especially as our new superintendent takes the helm.”
“I can’t wait to talk to voters about my track record in supporting equity, and how we can do more to get needed resources to every student,” Hauser said. “Our equity conversation must include culturally relevant materials, safe spaces, and an honest conversation about the state of our schools, and the challenges of declining enrollment, teacher and staff shortages, and below average student outcomes. Recent progress is encouraging.”
Moore’s campaign shared a letter Friday with her supporters and the media, in which she said serving Orange County students, families and staff “has been one of the greatest honors of my life.”
“I look forward to continuing to make progress improving our schools by nurturing academic excellence, making sure our educators and staff have fair and competitive compensation to have a stable workforce, and providing an environment where all have the opportunity to thrive,” Moore said. “Sometimes we have to fight extra hard for the things we love.”
A second, statewide Republican primary is also scheduled on May 14 for lieutenant governor and state auditor.
This story was originally published March 13, 2024 at 7:45 AM.
