The chairwoman of the Orange County Schools Board of Education will face a runoff against the recent election's next highest vote getter.
Chairwoman Anne Medenblik will face Laura Nicholson after Nicholson requested a runoff. It will be held June 22, the same day as the runoff for U.S. Senate, county officials announced today.
In a letter to the Board of Elections, Nicholson said she did not make the decision lightly and would have felt uncomfortable making the request except for the fact that a runoff is already being held that day.
Under the rules for the non-partisan school board race, a candidate may request a runoff if one or more top vote getters fails to win more votes than the total number of votes cast divided by the number of candidates running.
In the school board race the threshold was 2,636 votes.
Medenblik, who finished fourth in the race for four seats, won 2,565 votes; Nicholson won 2,500 votes.
"That was a tough race," said Debbie Chesire, deputy director of the Board of Elections.
The top three finishers in the May contest were incumbent Debbie Piscitelli and two former county department heads: Donna Dean Coffey and Brenda Stephens, who squeaked above the threshold with 2,651 votes.
