Voters were backing candidates for the Denver Board of Education who’d been supported by the teachers union, according to unofficial results as of Wednesday morning.
Four of the union-backed candidates were ahead as votes were tallied through Tuesday evening, although the races for District 2 and District 4 were close. If the results hold, it will cement the union’s majority for the second time in two years.
Board President Carrie Olson, the only incumbent, was among those in the lead Tuesday evening. She was first elected in 2017 and became president in 2019 when union-backed members gained the majority of seats.
As of Wednesday evening, Olson had received 13,086 votes, or 68.32% of the total, for the District 3 seat on the school board.
Three other seats on the Denver Public Schools board also were being filled in Tuesday’s election, one of several school board elections taking place across the metro area.
In Douglas County, conservative candidates were poised to take four seats on the local school board. That race had garnered deep-pocketed donors in what was a contentious and partisan election that drew national headlines.
Below are the latest unofficial results from the school board races for Denver Public Schools, Jeffco Public Schools, Cherry Creek School District, Aurora Public Schools and Douglas County School District.
Denver Public Schools
Scott Esserman, a former teacher running for the at-large seat, was ahead with 30,464– or 39.42% — votes.
Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán, a real estate agent, was leading for District 2, with 4,744 — 51.05% — votes. It was a close race, with Karolina Villagrana garnering 4,549 — 48.95% — votes.
And Michelle Quattlebaum, a family and community liaison at George Washington High School, had a small lead for the District 4 seat with 5,701 — 43.04% — votes. Gene Fashaw, a math teacher at High Point Academy charter school in Aurora, had 5,493 — or 41.47% — of votes.
Jeffco Public Schools
In the race for the District 1 seat, Danielle Varda was leading with 92,173 votes. Jeffrey Wilhite trailed with 65,483 votes.
Paula Reed led in the race for the District 2 seat, with 78,638 votes. Theresa Shelton followed with 59,840 votes.
Mary Parker led the race for the District 5 seat, with 86,664 votes. Kathy Miks trailed with 69,764 votes.
Cherry Creek School District
Kelly Bates was ahead for the District D seat with 26,386 votes. She was followed by Jen Gibbons, who had 17,213 votes.
Kristin Allan was ahead for the District E seat with 25,535 votes. The other candidates, Bill Leach and Jason Lester, had 15,292 votes and 9,619 votes, respectively.
Douglas County School District
Mike Peterson was in the lead for the District B seat with 53,813 votes. Juli Watkins trailed with 42,170 votes.
Becky Myers was ahead for the District D seat with 51,770 votes. Ruby Martinez followed with 40,022 votes.
Christy Williams was in the lead for the District E seat, with 52,059 votes. Kevin Leung had 43,901 votes.
Kaylee Winegar was in the lead for District G seat with 52,479 votes. Krista Holtzmann followed with 43,373 votes.
Aurora Public Schools
Anne Keke was slightly ahead in the race for an at-large seat, with 13,616 votes. Michael Carter and Debbie Gerkin followed with 13,007 and 12,682 votes, respectively.
In the forth spot, Tramaine Duncan and Christy Cummings were in a tight race with 10,489 votes and 10,187 votes, respectively.
