It’s Tuesday, May 14.
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Good morning, readers.
It’s Election Day 2.0 in northern Orange County, and incumbent Bonnie Hauser is the only candidate running for the Orange County Schools board’s seventh seat—kind of.
Her opponent, Jennifer Moore, dropped out of the race and resigned from the school board last month after the News & Observer reported that she lied about having a doctoral degree. And though Moore said she would not take the seat if elected, it was too late for election officials to take her name off the ballot.
Some of her supporters have continued to campaign—not for Moore as much as against Hauser.
“Sitting out the election would give Hauser the race, so I’ve decided to fill in the bubble next to Jennifer Moore’s name,” wrote Katie Harper in a WCHL-Chapelboro op-ed this month. Harper is the treasurer of Communities Supporting Orange County Schools, a political action committee that supported Moore in the March election.
Harper told the INDY that if Moore is elected, she hopes the other six board members (three progressives and three moderates) would come to a consensus on an appointee to serve out that term.
Hauser, the other candidate, hopes that voters pick her over the unknown of a board appointee.
“I think we believe in the same things,” Hauser says. “So it feels personal.”
But it’s not clear how much this election may impact the board’s policy decisions, because most of the votes this year have been unanimous and uncontroversial. The county, with the encouragement of the board, has indicated it will place a $300 million schools bond on the November ballot for some desperately needed capital improvements, and all members have been supportive of Danielle Jones, the new superintendent who has a background in principal oversight and coaching.
If Hauser wins the runoff, the board will only have gained one new member, Wendy Padilla, this election cycle, and will likely continue on its current track.
Read our full story on the bizarre runoff here. And check out Orange County’s election website for more information on your ballot.
Have a good Tuesday.
—Chase
Durham
Durham County manager Kimberly Sowell presented a $955 million budget proposal to county commissioners last night, a 7.5 percent increase over the last fiscal year. The proposal recommended investing an additional $13 million in Durham Public Schools, which is half of what DPS requested. It would also raise property taxes by 3.25 cents, to 78.47 cents per $100 valuation.
Wake
The Raleigh Police Department will receive more than $600,000 in federal funds to pay for upgrades to its real-time crime center.
Orange
UNC’s Board of Trustees voted to strike $2.3 million in DEI funding allocated in the next year’s budget and redirect it to public safety.
North Carolina
Learn about North Carolina’s brief experiment with ranked choice voting this Election Day.
Today’s weather
Cloudy with a high of 72 degrees, a chance of showers and storms.
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