DARRINGTON — And on the 28th day, there was a winner.
It took a nearly a month to learn officially who won a tight contest for a spot on the Darrington School Board.
Dave Holmer, a former superintendent and high school principal in the district of roughly 400 students, defeated Jennie Requa by three votes after ballots were recounted in Snohomish and Skagit counties Monday and Tuesday. The recount was required by state law given how close the results were.
Holmer led by two votes before the recount. He ended up winning by three when a ballot that wasn’t counted the first time was examined. A faint line was discovered by his name and the ballot was counted by the machine when it was processed the second time, said Garth Fell, the election manager for the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office.
With 613 ballots counted, the final result was 308 to 305. Holmer won in Snohomish County by two votes and Skagit County by one.
Darrington has five positions on its school board. Three are based on geographic districts; the other two are at-large positions.
Holmer and Requa were competing for one of the at-large positions.
Holmer has said Darrington would have been well-served regardless of who won.
Requa graduated from Darrington High School and has three children enrolled in the district.
In recent months, two school board members resigned from the board. Requa would not be eligible to be appointed to either position because the vacancies are for Districts 2 and 3 and she lives in the District 1, said Darrington Superintendent Buck Marsh.
The deadline to apply for one of the two openings is at the end of the business day Thursday. Information about the district boundaries and application procedures is available at the school district office, 1065 Fir St., or by calling 360-436-1323. The school board will review the applications.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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