Ahead of the Orange County Board of Elections’ meeting to canvass and certify election results from the primaries, the fourth-place candidate in the Orange County Schools Board of Education race submitted a request for a runoff.
Bonnie Hauser confirmed with Chapelboro she is calling for a runoff election against the third-place finisher, Jennifer Moore, if Moore’s vote totals do not reach a threshold required by law. In the unofficial results reported last Tuesday, Moore earned 6,497 votes to Hauser’s 6,036 — enough to claim the third and final seat in the race on sheer amount alone. North Carolina law, however, requires candidates in races with more than one seat available to receive at least half of the total votes cast to be safe from a runoff. In this case, the Orange County Elections department confirmed that 50 percent threshold is 6,563 votes for each of the three school board seats.
Incumbent Carrie Doyle and newcomer Wendy Padilla each earned more than 50 percent on election night, securing their seats once results are certified. Moore may still win, but would have to reach that threshold off the remaining provisional ballots and absentee ballots Orange County’s Board of Elections will review on Thursday. Orange County Elections confirmed to Chapelboro they will review 37 absentee ballots and 46 provisional ballots.
Hauser told Chapelboro her request needed to be submitted by Thursday at noon, and said she wanted to potentially run against Moore again because “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,” Hauser said in her statement. “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.”
When contacted by Chapelboro, Moore said she was aware of the possibility of a runoff election, but she would not be commenting further until the results are certified on Friday. Both Moore and Hauser currently sit on the Orange County Schools Board of Education — with each having served one term — and are in opposing slates of candidates endorsed by political action groups in this year’s race.
If Moore remains under the 50 percent vote threshold and a runoff election takes place, it would be on the ballot for voters in the Orange County Schools district on Tuesday, May 14. While the Board of Education race is nonpartisan, the two statewide primaries poised for runoffs are the Republican primaries for lieutenant governor between Hal Weatherman and Jim O’Neill and state auditor between Jack Clark and Dave Boliek.
The Orange County Board of Elections is slated to meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday for a pre-canvass meeting before gathering again at 11 a.m. on Friday to finalize the canvass and certify the election results.
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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