Most Orange County school board incumbents are taking strong leads this year, according to vote tallies released by the county registrar Friday evening.
But in some districts, including the Fullerton School District, early returns show incumbents struggling to retain their spots.
Here’s a look at how Orange County’s school board races are looking as of the latest count on Friday evening. Votes are still being counted, so these early results may change. Continue to check back here for updates.
Anaheim Elementary School District
Since 2016, Jackie Filbeck has served in Area 1 of the school district — and with recent returns may continue to do so. Filbeck is leading Ryan J. Hall in the race with 73.58% of the vote.
In Area 3 of the school district, there is no incumbent but Julie Diep is ahead with 60.80% of the vote. She’s leading Matthew Alex Mariscal, a pest control business owner.
Anaheim Union High School District
Area 3 Trustee Katherine Smith is leading Jose Paolo Magcalas in the race with 54.43% of the votes.
Smith, a long-time trustee of the district, started working for the board in 1996. Magcalas is a trustee on the Anaheim Elementary School District and a Cal State LA assistant professor.
Brian O’Neal leads the Area 4 race with 69.73% of the vote, ahead of Centralia School District Trustee Henry Charoen.
Retired school administrator and teacher Ron Hoshi is ahead in the Area 5 race with 61.69% of the vote. Hoshi leads Steve Blount, a trustee for the North Orange Community College District.
Buena Park School District
Aerospace engineering manager Michael Jensen is leading the Area 3 race with 56.23% of the vote. Tharwa Ahmad, the current president of the school board where she’s worked since 2017, falls over 300 votes behind.
Capistrano Unified School District
Jennifer Adnams, a longtime educator, leads the Area 1 race with 54.06% votes — ahead of incumbent Amy Hanacek, who joined the board in 2012.
Teacher Liza Zollinger leads in Area 2 with 56.82% of the vote, ahead of the incumbent Michael Parham.
Incumbents Lisa Davis and Krista Castellanos are closer to successful reelections.
Davis who represents Area 3, is in the forefront with 59.5% of the vote, ahead of Sherine Smith, a retired Laguna Beach Unified superintendent.
And in Area 5, Castellanos leads businesswoman Sonia Terwiske with 57.04%.
Centralia School District
Businessowner Angela Hernandez is leading the Area 3 race with 58.41% of the vote. She is ahead of Buena Park resident and primary caregiver Thomas Barraza.
Neither candidate is an incumbent, guaranteeing someone new will be joining the school board.
Cypress School District
Incumbent Carrie Hayashida is leading the election for Area A of the school district with 60.73% of the vote, out ahead of Steve Shanahan, the former La Palma mayor.
Area E incumbent Candi Kern is behind educator Jaime Needham, who has 51.02% of the votes.
Fountain Valley School District
Board President Steven Schultz leads the race — where voters were asked to choose two candidates — with 45.13% of votes.
Ashley Ramirez, an associate director for recruitment and admissions at UC Irvine, is in second with 27.80% of the vote. And educator Huy Tran is just behind with 27.07%.
Fullerton School District
James Cho is ahead of incumbent Hilda Sugarman in the Area 2 race with 61.87% of the votes.
Incumbent Leonel Talavera and her opponent, Vanesa Estrella, are locked in a tight race for Area 5. Estrella took the lead Friday evening with 50.49% of the vote.
Garden Grove Unified School District
Area 1 incumbent Teri Rocco and Area 5 incumbent Dina Nguyen are leading in their races.
Rocco, a retired teacher and administrator for the district has been a board member for over nine years. She has 53.37% of the vote, out ahead of Nicholas Dibs, a teacher with over 16 years of experience.
Nguyen, with 87.96% of the vote, is well ahead of Khai Dao. First elected to the position in 2016, Nguyen is an attorney with her own practice in Westminster and is a former city council member.
Huntington Beach City School District
Brian Burley leads Cindy Barrios with just 51.07% of the vote in the race for the Trustee Area 1 spot.
Huntington Beach Union High School District
Longtime board member Susan Henry leads the Area 3 race with 66.47% of the vote, out ahead of public school teacher Leann Corral.
Laguna Beach Unified School District
Sheri Morgan and Howard Hills are the top two candidates in the race so far. This election calls for voters to select two candidates to join the school board.
Morgan has 23.52% of the vote, and Hills follows closely behind with 23.15%.
Incumbent Jan Vickers is in third with 22.09% of vote. Community volunteer Lauren Boeck (20.21%) and retired educator Margaret Mary Warder (11.03%) follow.
La Habra City School District
Friday vote tallies show Justin Rodgers and Ofelia Corona Hanson pulling ahead in an election that requires voters to pick two candidates.
Rodgers, a board member, is in the lead with 39.61% of votes. Hanson trails behind with 31.66%. Social services manager Bertha Manzanares follows with 28.73%.
Minerva S. Gómez leads the race for the shorter term in the district with 50.59% with Barbara Gastelum right behind.
Los Alamitos Unified School District
Farnaz Pardasani, a member of the Los Alamitos Education Foundation, is in front in the Area 4 election with 58.18% of the votes. Pardasani leads Bobby Papoulias, who teaches business at Cal State Fullerton.
According to the latest returns, Matt Bragman is pulling ahead in Area 5 with 63.67% of votes, leading Perla Mendoza, a nonprofit CEO. Bragman is an executive director of education partnerships for Calm Classroom, a program that brings mindfulness to classes.
Newport-Mesa Unified School District
Area 1 Trustee Leah Ersoylu leads with 50.43% of the votes — ahead of her opponent Robin Mensinger.
In another close race, recent results showed Area 3 Trustee Carol Crane in front of Philip Stemler. Crane, the board president, is ahead with 50.5% of the vote.
Krista Weigand of Area 6 is leading with 46.69% of votes, as her two opponents, Amy Peters (35.81%) and Chris Kretzu (17.50%), follow.
Ocean View School District
With two seats up for grabs, Gina Clayton-Tarvin and Keri Gorsage are pulling ahead as of the latest returns.
Clayton-Tarvin was first elected to the board in 2012 and has served as its president. She has 28.18% of the votes while Gorsage has 23.06%.
David Clifford (22.48%), Keith Jorgensen (19.11%) and John Briscoe (7.37%) all trail behind.
Orange Unified School District
Ana Page is stepping closer to successful reelection with 72.88% of votes, well ahead of businessman Dzung “Dan” Nguyen for Area 3.
Meanwhile, the two candidates who were appointed to the board earlier this year after two members were recalled in the primary elections, are on track to retain their seats.
Sara Pelly is in front in the District 4 race with 79.85% of votes, ahead of Armando Perez Serrato. In District 7, Stephen Glass is leading the race over Steve Rocco with 80.35% of votes.
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District
In Area 1 of the school district, teacher Tricia Quintero has taken the lead with 61.62% of the vote, leading Ryan James Miller (34.26%) and Nicolas Cardenas (4.12%).
Trustee Marilyn Anderson is in front of Maria “Lupita” Stubbs in Area 2 with 55.83% of votes.
In Area 3, the incumbent and board president, Leandra Blades, is inching closer to being reelected with 54.37%. She is out ahead of district volunteer Misty Janssen.
Saddleback Valley Unified School District
According to the latest vote tallies, incumbents Suzie Swartz and Amanda Morrell are pulling ahead.
Swartz, who represents Area 3, leads Michelle O’Brien with 56.94% of votes. Morrell is out ahead in Area 4 over business owner Michael Stannard with 54.67% of the vote.
And in Area 2, longtime district volunteer Michele Sparks has a narrow lead (52.05%) over former San Jacinto Mayor Scott Miller.
Santa Ana Unified School District
With 51.51% of the vote, Brenda Lebsack, a special education teacher, leads incumbent Rigo Rodriguez in Trustee Area 1.
Meanwhile, Valerie Magdaleno has a large lead, with 76.16% of the vote, over Lloyd Boucher-Reyes for the Area 2 spot. And Alfonso Alvarez leads with 59.74% of the vote in the Area 3 race, over Dana Suarez (26.13%) and Tamiko Anderson (14.13%).
Tustin Unified School District
The latest returns show Area 1 Trustee Allyson Muñiz Damikolas, who was first elected to the board in 2020, moving ahead with 69.86% of votes, out in front of Joe Portera.
Retired nonprofit executive Kathy Copeland is out front with 54.35% of votes over health care executive Bill Pevehouse in Area 2.
And in Area 4, Jonathan Stone is well ahead of Mark McCallie with 65.22% of votes.
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