ELECTION-BUTTON-2014

Three newly-elected board members will join Long Beach’s educational scene while two incumbents maintain their respective positions on the boards that oversee Long Beach education.

The Long Beach Community College (LBCC) Board of Trustees had three areas with seats up for grabs.

Current LBCC Board President Jeffrey Kellogg will find his seat still awaiting him as he won 55.6% (3,348 votes) of Area 1’s vote. Retired educator Dr. Marshall Blesofky scored 44.4% (2,674) of the vote but given he was the only opponent, it was not enough to force his campaign into a runoff with Kellogg.

Newcomers Sunny Zia, an engineer, and Virginia Baxter, an higher-ed educator and longtime LBCC employee and volunteer, will both take their seats representing Area 3 and Area 5 respectively. Zia took in 59.8% (2,551) of the vote while Baxter took in 55.7% (6,253).

The Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) will welcome back District 3 incumbent John McGinnis after he garnered 52.9% (2,183) of the vote within his district. His opponent, nonprofit leader and educator Dr. Juan Benitez, racked in 47.1% (1,944).

The fresh face being welcomed to the board will be volunteer and full-time mom and volunteer Megan Kerr, who ousted opponent Uduak-Joe Ntuk with her 51.3% (3,209) to win the 1st District after a race that got extremely heated in recent weeks.

Kerr and Ntuk’s face-off was one of the most contentious, with Ntuk receiving scrutiny from parents following his open criticism of Kerr’s volunteer work and funding sources while Kerr’s educational claims were continually questioned. 

To read all the specific numbers on the reported results, click here.