Following the certification of election results in Orange County on Friday, a runoff election for the third and final seat on the Orange County Schools Board of Education is official.
Jennifer Moore and Bonnie Hauser will each appear on the runoff ballots for Tuesday, May 14, as final counts of provisional and absentee ballots reviewed by the Board of Elections saw Moore fall short of a necessary vote threshold. Her total of 6,528 votes was less than the amount needed to represent a majority of the voters in the multi-seat race (6,563 was 50 percent), triggering Hauser’s request for a runoff election she submitted earlier in the week. Based on the results from the March 5 primary election, Hauser finished 482 votes behind Moore with 6,046.
Orange County was already set to hold another round of votes for two primaries for statewide positions that advanced to runoffs — both of which are Republican primaries. Hal Weatherman and Jim O’Neill will go through a second round of voting for the Republican nomination for North Carolina Lt. Governor after neither reached the 30 percent threshold of votes needed for a race over a single office. The winner will match up with Democrat Rachel Hunt, who won 70 percent of the primary vote on March 5. Additionally, Republicans Jack Clark and David Boliek will go through another primary together to face Democratic incumbent Jessica Holmes for the North Carolina Auditor position.
With both statewide races being for Republican primaries, it means some Orange County voters will only have the Board of Education runoff on their ballots come May 14. The Orange County Schools election is only for residents who live within the school district’s boundaries — meaning Chapel Hill and Carrboro are excluded from voting.
Moore and Hauser are each incumbents on the Orange County Schools’ Board of Education, having both been elected in 2020. The pair were in opposing slates of candidates endorsed by political action groups in this year’s race. The two candidates largely group with Moore — incumbent Carrie Doyle and newcomer Wendy Padilla — each reached the 50 percent vote threshold and saw their wins made official on Friday.
Below are statements each candidate shared with Chapelboro about the runoff:
Jennifer Moore
“Serving the students, staff, and families of Orange County schools 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.
Sometimes we have to fight extra hard for the things we love. Such is the case with my win. Voters selected me by a 461 vote margin (as of this writing) which is 8% more than the 4th place candidate. But, current election law allows for a runoff request if the winning candidate does not achieve a 50% majority rule. For this 3-seat race, I am just shy of the threshold for preventing a run off.
So here we go again.
I am a North Carolinian, born and bred, who wants to continue to speak for my community and to bring my 12+ years of experience as a teacher’s aide in the exceptional classroom. As a board member and a candidate, I play to my strengths – quiet careful consideration of the matters before me, advocacy from a position of knowledge of the schools as a teacher’s aide and as a parent, and as a member of my community, and showing up for students, teachers, and staff. As other board members will attest, I do my homework.
So, here I am again, asking for your support.”
Bonnie Hauser
“This election is really important to our students and families, especially as our new superintendent takes the helm.
I remain committed to the safe, inclusive and excellent schools that our students and teachers deserve. 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. 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.”
With the runoff, Orange County’s Board of Elections shared the deadline for absentee ballot requests will be Tuesday, May 7 at 5 p.m. One-stop early voting in the runoff will begin on Thursday, April 25 and run through Saturday, May 11.
Editor’s Note: 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com initially reported Jennifer Moore as the winner of the third seat on Election Night. That story has been updated to reflect the conditions of a runoff election.
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