Mike Potmesil and incumbent Donna Del Rey appear to have won the two-seat Healdsburg Unified School District school board trustee race, with Del Rey getting 27.9 percent of the votes followed closely by Potmesil with 27.5 percent of the votes as of Wednesday morning according to the Sonoma County Registrar’s of Voters. While the projections indicate Potmesil and Del Rey as the winners, the final vote count will not be officially completed for another 30 days.
Around 8:30 p.m. returns started trickling in, initially giving both Del Rey and Potmesil a lead. After more votes were counted early Wednesday morning, it was clear that the candidates would likely win the two seats.
A win for Potmesil, 71, marks his first time on a publicly elected school board seat. Donna Del Rey, 55, will be the only returning incumbent.
“I am very excited. It was a vigorous race, which is great, but it is a relief to know that I get to keep my seat,” Del Rey said.
Del Rey has served on the board of trustees since being appointed in 2012 and re-elected in 2014.
Running on a campaign platform of academic programs for children and being a “guardian of trust,” Del Rey hopes to continue to encourage a school-wide culture of “all students can thrive.”
In a recent Tribune article asking the four candidates a series of questions, Del Rey stated, “In the last few years, there have been notable advances across our campuses to nurture a culture that allows all students at all grade levels to thrive as they explore and discover their talents, voices, paths and purposes. I support this priority to cultivate a supportive and positive culture district-wide.”
She also told the Tribune that she hopes to tackle the issue of low math scores by perhaps implementing a new curriculum.
Potmesil ran with his idea that professional development is a key to good schools and leadership.
In the same candidate Q&A article he told the Tribune, “I believe that professional development is a key function of school leadership. Our professionals must continue to learn and improve.”
Potmesil spent the night of the election celebrating with his wife and said in an email, “I plan on celebrating our campaign’s hard work.”
According to the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters, 70 percent of the county voted by mail and this midterm election saw a record turnout for the Bay Area and for the country as a whole compared to past midterm years, which typically do not draw such large turnouts.
