Two school board incumbents, two newcomers win voters' approval
Grand Island Board of Education incumbents Lisa Albers and Josh Hawley won re-election on Tuesday, while two newcomers will be joining the board.
Tracy Goodman will join Albers in representing Ward B. Also new to the board will be Donna Douglass, who was unopposed in Ward A.
Hawley defeated newcomer John McHargue for the right to represent Ward C. Hawley earned 1,646 votes, compared to 1,390 for McHargue. It will be Hawley's second four-year term on the school board.
Voters were asked to choose two of three candidates in Ward B. Albers and Goodman came out ahead in a tight race, with 2,747 votes for Albers and 2,676 for Goodman. Dave Hulinsky was unsuccessful in his bid for a second term, attracting 2,608 votes.
The outcome gives Albers her third term on the board.
"I am thrilled to continue my passionate work for students, their families and staff at Grand Island Public Schools," Albers wrote in an email Wednesday.
Douglass and Goodman will both be serving their first terms. In Ward A, Lindsey Jurgens chose not to seek re-election.
Before Tuesday, four of the board's nine members had been endorsed by Chaperone, the political action committee founded by former Grand Island Mayor Jeremy Jensen.
On Tuesday, two Chaperone-supported candidates won, and two lost.
Now, five of the nine members will have Chaperone's support. In addition to Goodman and Douglass, they are Hank McFarland, Josh Sikes and Amanda Wilson.
Albers, Hawley, Carlos Barcenas and Eric Garcia-Mendez have not been endorsed by Chaperone.
Hawley said Wednesday he is thankful to be re-elected, "and I'm happy to keep continuing to do the work of the district."
"I think that people understand that the work that the board's been doing is good work." Hawley said. "There is maybe a trust that's started to rebuild over the last few years and people want to see that continue."
Even though some new people are coming aboard, Hawley doesn't see the group as being much different.
"As a board I think we've always worked collectively with whoever's on the board," Hawley said. "So when new board members come on, it doesn't really change the speed or the operating tempo of what's going on."
Hulinsky is used to close elections. In his first bid for the GIPS board, in 2020, a recount was needed, and he won by 16 votes.
"Last time, the dice rolled in my favor. This time, it didn't," Hulinsky said.
"But I know Tracy really well and I know she's going to do a fantastic job," Hulinsky said of Tracy Goodman. "I would've loved to serve on the board with her but it just didn't work out that way this time. And that's what elections are for. People need a voice."
Even though 378 outstanding ballots remain, Hulinsky doesn't believe his outcome will change.
Those outstanding ballots are for the entire county, so the chance that they will impact his Ward B race is small, he said.
"There's still a chance there but it's not looking promising, which is absolutely fine," Hulinsky said. "Like I said, Tracy's going to do a good job. The whole purpose of the democratic process is for people to have a voice, and I came up a little short. And that's OK. I'm not going to stop. I'm still going to continue to volunteer and educate and do what I can. It's just going to be a different role."
McHargue expressed his congratulations to the winners "and I wish them the best."
McHargue noted that he doesn't have any kids still in school, "so I don't have quite the skin in the game."
Going against an incumbent, he also knew he faced an uphill battle.
But he's glad that he and Hawley ran a clean campaign.
Goodman and her husband, Jim, are graduates of Grand Island Senior High.
"I'm very excited to serve on the school board," Goodman said.
With the final, official results not in yet, she's not fully certain of her victory.
But she's looking forward to being on the board. "I mean, you've got a couple new board members joining some seasoned board members. So I think it'll be good (to) combine them all together," she said.
