Local voters cast their ballots for representatives

By Christy Scott and Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun

     ALPINE — Alpine residents showed up in droves to vote in this year’s midterm elections. For many the focus was local races including planning groups and school boards. While 200,000 county-wide absentee ballots still remain to be counted in the next few days, many races have already been decided. The local races, many of which are decided by just dozens of votes could be swayed by the absentee count. Included here is information about local races as well as vote tallies to date.
     The long awaited results of the local school board, Nov. 7 elections were close, distributing the votes in a uniform yet decisive manner. Despite all of the raucous forums, anonymous e-mails, and hype that surrounded the candidates, the Alpine School Board of Trustees and Grossmont Union High School District’s board of Trustees are keeping their incumbents and both are welcoming two new faces on each board.
     Scott Barr will be remaining on the Alpine school board, and will be welcoming two new members; Gina Henke, and Eric Wray. Jim Kelly will keep his seat, and be joined by Richard “Dick” Hoy, and Robert Shield.
     Barr’s campaign strategy was interrupted when most of his 100 signs disappeared almost as soon as he posted them. He has faced some stiff competition but has maintained that the most important traits of a school board member; are to be available, to listen to the people who wish to make their concerns known, and find the best person to resolved any problems presented. Alpine must agree that Barr has been doing just that, as he led the race picking up votes and leading the polls with taking 1, 267 ballots, 19.04% of the votes.
     Henke, who is relatively new to the Alpine political scene has garnered 1,196 votes which works out to 17.98% of the vote here in Alpine, and casting her in the second seat on the board to be filled. Henke was involved in our Alpine schools when her sons were enrolled in Alpine Elementary. She felt that this was the right time for her to get involved in our Alpine community, and Alpine has taken her up on her offer. She is currently a teacher in the Lakeside School District, and knows she can do a good job of representing the people in our school district.
     Eric Wray is the candidate chosen to fill the third seat of the school board. Wray is involved in the Shadow Hills Elementary school site council, and has collected 1,048 votes, taking 15.75% of the votes. Wray’s wife is also a teacher on the Shadow Hills Elementary campus. Wray ran his campaign with dignity. Wray’s signs were posted and he sent out mailers introducing himself as a wise choice for the Alpine School District Board of Trustees.
     Along with the above winning candidates, Bill Weaver, Louis Russo, Matt Schumsky, and Chuck Taylor made a reasonable showing in the polls.
     Weaver accumulated 911 votes gaining ground over Russo’s 889 votes. Schumsky amassed 676 votes only 10 more than Taylor’s 666.
     Grossmont Union School District’s Governing Board of Trustees will still boast Jim Kelly as a member, as he led the election taking 19.54% of the votes in the county. He collected 24,794 votes from constituents who are happy with his overall performance on the board. His conservative stand has served him well, keeping his seat firmly in place.
     Richard “Dick” Hoy will be added to the board’s personage, as he was in a tight race, gathering 18.20% of the votes. Hoy’s 23,093 votes show a clear understanding that he and his long time experience in the Grossmont district, is wanted in this position at this time.
     The last new name to be enlisted as a member to the GUHSD board of trustees is Robert Shield. Shield’s 21,698 votes came in at 17.10% of the votes. Shield, who is a teacher in the Lakeside School District, has promised in public forums to be a voice of reason on this board, and hopes to build bridges of understanding and continuity between the administration and teachers in the Grossmont district.
     Ken Sobel took 16.40% of the votes, counting 20,809. Shari Groce finished with 15.89% of the votes, with 20,169 ballots cast for her. Andrew Sundstrom tallied out at 12.87%, with 16,333 votes.
     The above tallies on the votes were the latest count as of 1:45 a.m. Nov. 8, 2006.

Results as of 11 a.m. Nov. 8, 2006:

U.S. House of Representatives 51st District
Bob Filner (D) — 46,455 votes, 66.96%
Blake Miles (R) — 21,284 votes, 30.68%
Dan Litwin (Lib) — 1,638 votes, 2.36%

U.S. House of Representatives 52nd District
Duncan Hunter (R) — 96,600 votes, 64.96%
John Rinaldi (D) — 46,996 votes, 31.60%
Michael Benoit (Lib) — 5,105 votes, 3.43%

State Assembly 77th District
Joel Anderson (R) — 54,456 votes, 60.73%
Christopher Larkin (D) — 32,129 votes, 35.83%
Rich Belitz (Lib) — 3,077 votes, 3.43%

State Senate 36th District
Dennis Hollingsworth (R) — 98,076 votes, 62.53%
Mark Hanson (D) — 53,247 votes, 33.95%
Joe Shea (Lib) — 5,527 votes, 3.52%

Alpine Community Planning Group (7 seats)
Brad Bailey — 1,781 votes, 12.16%
Jim Easterling — 1,763 votes, 12.04%
George Barnett — 1,755 votes, 11.99%
Louis Russo — 1,698 votes, 11.60%
Chuck Taylor — 1,683 votes, 11.49%
Linda Richards — 1,587 votes, 10.84%
Jane Fitz — 1,472 votes, 10.05%
Matt Schumsky — 1,463 votes, 9.99%
David Waitley — 1,441 votes, 9.84%

Campo/lake Morena Planning Group (4 seats)
Bev Esry — 347 votes, 13.61%
Richard Northcote — 333 votes, 13.06%
Bill Slaff — 330 votes, 12.95%
Denise Morse — 308 votes, 12.08%
Patricia Noblitt — 308 votes, 12.08%
Jean Bates — 278 votes, 10.91%
Debra Ford — 271 votes, 10.63%
Wally Palmer — 270 votes, 10.59%
Karl Brady — 104 votes, 4.08%

Boulevard Community Planning Group (3 seats)
Donna Tisdale — 235 votes, 24.10%
Pat Stuart — 217 votes, 22.26%
Darlene Koczka — 179 votes, 18.36%
Frankie Smith — 115 votes, 11.79%
Nazar Najor — 82 votes, 8.41%
Mary Savary — 74 votes, 7.59%
Jason Taylor — 73 votes, 7.49%

Alpine Union School District (3 seats)
Scott Barr — 1,769 votes, 19.36%
Gina Henke — 1,618 votes, 17.71%
Eric Wray — 1,431 votes, 15.66%
Bill Weaver — 1,317 votes, 14.42%
Louis Russo — 1,183 votes, 12.95%
Matt Schumsky — 933 votes, 10.21%
Chuck Taylor — 885 votes, 9.69%

Mountain Empire Unified School District (trustee area 1)
Fred Kamper — 1,350 votes, 59.73%
Ralph Davis — 910 votes, 40.27%

Mountain Empire Unified School District (trustee area 3)
Ken Northcote — 1,345 votes, 57.95%
Rob Romero — 976 votes, 42.05%

Mountain Empire Unified School District (trustee area 4)
Beryl Buchanan — 1,167 votes, 51.39%
Holly Stover — 1,104 votes, 48.61%

Mountain Empire Unified School District (trustee area 5)
Danny Nunez — 1,089 votes, 47.08%
Jim Banks — 951 votes, 41.12%
Jan Hedlun — 273 votes, 11.80%

Grossmont Union High School District (3 seats)
Jim Kelly — 35,179 votes, 19.27%
Richard Hoy — 33,343 votes, 18.26%
Robert Shield — 31,270 votes, 17.13%
Ken Sobel — 29,820 votes, 16.33%
Shari Groce — 29,155 votes, 15.97%
Andrew Sundstrom — 23,820 votes, 13.05%

Alpine Fire Protection District (3 seats)
Martin Marugg — 2,254 votes, 32.61%
Jime Easterling — 1,982 votes, 28.68%
Mary Fritz — 1,630 votes, 23.59%
Steve Kramer — 1,045 votes, 15.12%

Pine Valley Fire Protection District (3 seats)
Richard Berardi — 350 votes, 29.94%
Benjamin Tulloch — 332 votes, 28.40%
Franklin Whiteley — 271 votes, 23.18%
Jim Pilant — 216 votes, 18.48%

     Editor’s note: After the remaining absentee ballots are counted some of the above numbers could change, as this election marked a record amount of absentee voters. See next week’s edition of The Alpine Sun for in depth looks at new board make-ups and final election results.

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