Claire Harding pulled ahead in the open School Board race by 11 votes in complete but unofficial results posted Friday afternoon.
Harding and Charis Grosdidier were in a tight race for the seat all week as mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday were accepted until Friday.
Harding received 422 votes while Grosdidier had 411. Samantha Arredondo had 186. The canvass to make the election official is scheduled for Nov. 15.
Harding said Friday that her election to the board was “thrilling.”
“I have so much gratitude for this community and my supporters – all of the voters. I think I said on Wednesday, ‘I’m ready to get to work,’ and that hasn’t changed,” she said. “I feel a great responsibility, and I’m excited for this opportunity. I’m thrilled.”
Harding plans to attend the next School Board meeting Thursday and observe. She will also continue substitute teaching and doing volunteer work.
“I’m thankful for this chance to serve our community in this way. I recognize the vote was really close, but I still have a responsibility to all of our community,” she said.
Harding said she looks forward to speaking with her fellow candidates.
“We all wanted to help our community in the same way, and that hasn’t changed just because I’m the one in the seat, so we’ll have certainly a thorough conversation,” she said. “The people who voted for them – I respect that they made a different choice, but I still want to hear from them also as we go through.”
On Thursday, Grosdidier said she was thankful for those who voted, and she was pleased with the turnout this year.
“I’m hopeful for how the canvassing on Nov. 15 will turn out,” she said Saturday. “As I understand it, there may be provisionals in question that are still being investigated.”
Final vote tallies in the other races were:
City Commission
Tim Reazin: 426 *winner
Jolene Born: 361 * winner
Zach Brooks: 336
Lance Handley: 325
Write-in: 12
School Board Race 1
Heather Whalen: 656 *winner
Joseph Hurla: 653 *winner
Eric Votaw: 647 *winner
Michael Kelso: 451
Write-in: 41
This is a breaking news story. Check back for further updates.
