Elizabeth Hewey beat challenger Oscar Locklin, retaining her School Board District 2 seat by a 52.25-47.75 margin during yesterday’s General Election.
School board races, unlike the Superintendent’s race, are non-partisan; however, the Santa Rosa County Republican Executive Committee and Florida House District 3 Rep. Joel Rudman had endorsed Locklin, a registered Republican.
Hewey, a Democrat, was endorsed by the Santa Rosa Professional Educators teacher’s union. “I was glad to see that Hewey won, said Rhonda Chavers, chairwoman of SRPE’s political action committee.
Chavers attributes Hewey’s win to the large voter turnout. More than 113,242 registered voters cast a ballot.
“It also has to be noted that she was a Democrat, running against a Republican in a county dominated by Republicans,” added Chavers.
According to Santa Rosa County Supervisor of Elections Tappie Villane’s website, the supermajority of registered voters are Republican, totaling 89,925 of 145,097 voters – or nearly 62%.
“The people were voting for the person, not for the party,” Chavers said, noting that Hewey for years has volunteered in schools. “She’s worked tirelessly toward improving teacher pay and support. so it’s great to see the person we endorsed win.”
Hewey received 4,320 more votes that Locklin.
