Update: Because Jennifer Moore did not receive a majority of the vote, the county board of elections has determined that Moore and Bonnie Hauser will compete in a runoff election on May 14, 2024. That election will determine whether progressives or moderates control the board for the next two years. (The INDY did not initially report the possibility of a runoff.)
On Super Tuesday, Orange County progressives narrowly won a majority on the school board according to unofficial results posted early Wednesday morning.
Incumbents Carrie Doyle and Jennifer Moore successfully defended their seats with roughly 18.5 percent and 16.5 percent of votes cast, respectively, in an election where voters could pick three candidates. Newcomer Wendy Padilla won a first term with 16.9 percent of votes cast. All three winners are Democrats.
By winning all three seats, the progressive slate edged out moderate incumbent Bonnie Hauser, also a Democrat, who came in fourth place with 15.3 percent of votes. With Sarah Smylie, who was not up for reelection, the progressive bloc will have a 4-3 majority on the board. That marks a step to the left in Northern Orange County, a politically mixed district that, since 2016, has been caught in the culture wars surrounding the confederate flag, COVID, and LGBTQ books in schools.
“The progressive slate was really the student centered slate and that’s what people want for their kids. People understood that centering kids and well-being and trying to serve kids in an equitable way is also better for kids academically,” says Doyle, the top vote-getter.
This was the first election since the current board, controlled by a coalition of moderates and conservatives, pushed out Superintendent Monique Felder in August. This spring, the moderate-to-conservative slate argued that voters should “choose kids over politics,” a message that Doyle pushed back against, arguing that her opponents were creating a “false choice” between equity policies and student performance.
Doyle and her allies were backed by Communities Supporting Orange County Schools, a new PAC, as well as former school board member Hillary MacKenzie and former Hillsborough Mayor Jenn Weaver. The Friends of Orange County Schools PAC, founded by former board members Stephen and Susan Halkiotis, backed Hauser as well as first-time candidates Cindy Shriner and Michael Johnson, both unaffiliated, who won 14.6 percent and 13.5 percent of votes cast, respectively.
Kevin Alston Jr., a first-time progressive candidate who was not associated with either slate, won 4.4 percent of the vote.
In the Democratic primary election for Orange County Commissioner, incumbent Phyllis Portie-Ascott trounced her challengers with 72.3 percent of the vote. Portie-Ascott was appointed by the county commission in 2023 to represent district two and is seeking a full term. Horace Johnson Jr. took 18.1 percent of the vote, and Adam J. Beeman got 6.7 percent.
A real-estate agent and former chair of the Northern Orange Black Voters Alliance, Portie-Ascott will face Republican nominee H. Nathan Robinson in November’s general election.
“My journey has allowed me to build lasting relationships across Orange County, whether it’s working with the Northern Orange NAACP, supporting our public schools, or advocating for equity,” Portie-Ascott said at a candidate forum in February.
Portie-Ascott also defended the commission’s decision to place a $300 million bond referendum on the ballot this coming November. Johnson had argued that the resultant tax increase would price out residents who are already suffering from the impact of gentrification. If voters approve, the money will be used to improve facilities in both the Orange County and Carrboro-Chapel Hill school districts.
“The tension between adequately funding our capital needs and looking out for our vulnerable citizens will always be where I listen the hardest and discern the deepest,” Portie-Ascott wrote in her INDY questionnaire.
Unofficial results, as of early Wednesday morning, courtesy of the State Board of Elections. About 30 percent of the electorate, or 32,929 voters cast ballots in the Orange County primary. See all the election results here.
Editor’s note: The headline was clarified to note that Portie-Ascott won the Democratic primary election to the Orange County Board of Commissioners. She has a Republican challenger in November.
Reach Reporter Chase Pellegrini de Paur at [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].
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