Thirteen of the 34 Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education primary candidates are advancing to the general election.
Ronda Mays secured more than 14,000 votes in the school board’s at-large Democratic primary. She’s a school social worker and former president of the Forsyth County Association of Educators.
Her task ahead of November, she says, will be to earn support from across the aisle.
“All of us, no matter what your party, you want the children to have a quality education," Mays said. "You want them to have the opportunities in their school.”
Lee Childress, an exceptional children, or EC, teacher in the district, earned the top spot for the District 2 Democratic primary. He’ll face a similar challenge, as he’s vying for a seat historically held by Republicans.
“If I am lucky to be chosen in November, I think people know that I will advocate as hard as I can to make sure that we keep the service levels for our EC kids and show support for our EC staff — all of our staff and students,” Childress said.
In the Republican Primary for District 2, Bob Weiss took the lead with 15% of the vote. He’s a former army officer and business leader. Weiss says he thinks the public resonated with his motivations.
“I don't plan on trying to run for any other office. I did this because I thought I could help," Weiss said. "And I have a 5-year-old granddaughter and a 3-year-old grandson who will be in the school system, and I wanted to do something for them.”
And Trevonia Brown-Gaither was the top vote getter in the District 1 Democratic Primary, and one of only three incumbents advancing to the general election.
These candidates had to convince the public they should be re-elected, despite serving on the board as a major financial crisis unfolded last year.
“We were blindsided. I can truly say that," she said. "I think people don't think we were blindsided, but we were. But, you know, we also couldn't have a brand new nine-member board.”
She thinks maintaining some continuity is important.
In the general election, three other Republican candidates who did not have primaries will also appear on the ballot.