Amid a myriad of challenges school districts face from declining enrollment to the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, Santa Clarita Valley residents have shown up at the polls in support of leaders they believe will pave the way for quality education.
William S. Hart Union High School District
In the Hart district, SCV residents voted for candidates to fill three open seats — including Trustee Area No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5.
According to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Bob Jensen led the polls Tuesday night with 66.66% (5,048) of the votes to represent Trustee Area No. 2. Cherise Moore led the race for Trustee Area No. 3 with 62.84% (3,124) of the votes and Joe Messina led his race to represent Trustee Area No. 5 with 59.19% (5,329) of the votes. All three of the leaders are incumbents.
Following Jensen in the race, Andrew Taban received 33.34% (2,525) of the early Tuesday votes. Following Moore, Teresa Todd received 37.16% (1,847) of the votes and, following Messina, Rebecca Hindman received 40.85% (3,680) of early Tuesday votes.
An unknown number of ballots remained to be counted in the days ahead.
“Well, the first drop is what I expected, and though I’m in the lead, she’s not far behind be,” Messina said, in regards to the initial reports of voting results at approximately 8:35 p.m.
According to Messina, in his race, he feels he’ll receive a “solid win” as he believed the votes of constituents of Trustee Area No. 5 would show up later.
“I want people who did vote for me — I want to thank them for believing that I can do the job,” Messina said.
Jensen was unreachable for comment Tuesday night regarding the initial voting results. Moore said the voting results were still early, and she was looking forward to seeing the final results in the coming days.
Saugus Union School District
In the Saugus district, there were three open seats representing Trustee Area No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5.
According to the Registrar-Recorder’s Office, Tuesday night early voting results indicated Cassandra Love led the race for Trustee Area No. 1 with 53.46% (1,220) of the votes against Jesus Henao, who received 46.54% (1,062) of the votes.
Anna Griese led the race for Trustee Area No. 2 with 54.85% (1,924) of the votes against Laura Arrowsmith, who received 45.15% (1,584) of the votes.
However, Arrowsmith’s name was on the ballot, but she dropped out of the race in September after moving away from the district.
Incumbent Christopher Trunkey led the race for Trustee Area No. 5 with 55.69% (1,390) of the votes against Sharlene Duzick, who received 44.31% (1,106) of the votes.
Newhall School District
In the Newhall district, there were two seats up for grabs, which would represent Trustee Areas No. 1 and No. 2.
In early voting results Tuesday night, incumbent Brian Walters led the race for Trustee Area No. 1 with 50.6% (896) of the votes against Donna Robert, who received 49.94% (894) of the votes.
Rachelle Haddoak led the race for Trustee Area No. 2 with 57.58% (1,416) of the votes against Suverna Mistry, who received 42.42% (1,043) of the votes.
Castaic Union School District
In the Castaic district race to represent Trustee Area E, Mayreen Burk led the race with 59.95% (247) of the votes against Tracy Ford, who received 40.05% (165) of the votes.
Sulphur Springs and Santa Clarita Community College districts
In the Sulphur Springs Union School District and the Santa Clarita Community College District, candidates in these races ran unopposed.
