By Paul T. Choate
Nov. 7, 2012. On Tuesday, Nov. 6, Watauga County citizens made their choices for three new Watauga County Board of Education members. Candidates Barbara Kinsey, Brenda Reese and Ron Henries proved victorious but the door is still open for Jay Fenwick to potentially win one of the seats.
Kinsey was the top vote getter with 10,882 votes. Reese was a close second, only 82 votes behind, with 10,800 votes. Henries came in third with 10,629 votes, but there is still a chance for Jay Fenwick to claim one of the three available seats.
Watauga County Board of Election’s officials noted that 321 provisional ballots have not been accounted for. Once those are deemed valid or not valid, those numbers will be added to the current totals. Fenwick had 10,527 votes — only 102 votes less than Henries and 273 votes behind Reese.
Current school board members Steve Combs and John Welch, along with Board Chair Deborah Miller, will all be stepping down from their positions on the WCS Board of Education, choosing not to run for re-election. On Monday, Nov. 5, the outgoing three members were honored in a surprise honorary ceremony at the school board meeting.
Candidates Deborah Greene and Fred Oliver received 7,742 and 6,978 votes respectively and do not have a chance to win a seat regardless the outcome of the provisional ballots.
Correction: A prior version of this story had a typo in Fred Oliver’s total votes. It read “9,978” rather than the correct “6,978.” The total has been corrected.
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