During yesterday’s primary elections, voters selected three Republicans and three Democrats to run for New Hanover County Board of Education.
Emma Saunders, Sandra Leigh, and Kevin Spears will appear as the Democratic candidates on the November ballot. Sandra Leigh says the next step is to band together:
"The three of us need to sit down and figure out how we’re going to win in November because all three of us have to win. We have to take over the Board at least three to four if we’re going to make changes in New Hanover County. We have to sit down with the each other, with the Democratic Party, with the community, with the parents, with the people that have supported us and say, ‘What is it we need to do to win in November?’"
Lisa Estep, David Wortman, and Jeannette Nichols won the Republican spots. Estep is running for her second term on the Board, and fellow incumbent Nichols is vying for her fifth. Wortman says teacher pay is high on his list of priorities, as well as connecting parents with the school system:
"For years, the parents feel that their voice has not been heard by the Board of Education. By allowing them to talk to me, and to me to bring those issues to the Board of Education, it really gives them an opportunity to be heard. So, that’s really what we’re all about."