EAST ALTON/BETHALTO/ROXANA - In one of the most contested school board races in the area, David Watts had 263 votes, followed by Kimberly Handler with 261 votes and Mary A. Karrick with 253 votes, to take top vote-getter status in the East Alton Board of Education School District 13 race.
The top three in that race were elected. Others in the race were Dustene Shoemaker with 239 votes, Dawn Kinnikin with 223 votes, Jason Bricker had 157 votes.?
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Watts said he believes there needs to be a systematic way of change for students in the school district and he was excited about being elected.
“I decided to run and I am super excited to represent our school children and educators in the school to make changes for the betterment of the school. As a school educator, I know a lot about school verse very well, I know a lot about school law and finances, I thought I was a great choice to be an advocate for their voices.”
Handler said she was nervous about the results and watching numbers going back and forth.
“I am very thankful for the people who came out and voted for me and put signs on Facebook,” she said. “It was a wonderful experience and I look forward to serving on the board.”
Shoemake said it was tough to lose, but she was excited for her running mates and change they will start. About 12 people notified me they voted for the first time in 10 years and that in itself is a success to me to get people who don’t normally vote.”
Phillip Keasler and Debra Angleton snared the most votes in the East Alton Village Trustee election Tuesday night with 332 and 329 votes respectively. Walter Hale posted 314 votes and David Vandiver 233 votes.
In the Bethalto Village Board race, Gary Bost had 539 votes, followed by Tim Lowrance with 434, Maria Perkhiser with 400, Christopher Henderson with 252 and Jason Shields with 181. Three were selected from that race.
In the two-year Village Trustee race, Erika Stassi had 465 votes to Phillip Little's 358.
Dale Raymond led the Roxana Village Trustee race with 104 votes, Steven White had 94 votes and Robert Kelly followed with 86 votes and Michael Franks with 40 votes.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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