Voters in DeKalb County dismissed one school board incumbent, denied another clear victory and narrowly admitted a third to another term.
Some see reapportionment and a rescheduled earlier election date behind Tuesday's outcome.
Others see anti-incumbent rage driving voters to endorse Marshall Orson over incumbent Don McChesney while also forcing incumbent Paul Womack into a runoff and giving incumbent Pam Speaks just 52 percent of the vote against a little-known challenger who missed high-profile candidate events.
"I would say people are looking for a change in leadership," said Jim McMahan, who will face Womack in the Aug. 21 runoff election. Womack conceded an anti-incumbent sentiment was blowing against his sails. "There's a lot of feeling of 'out with the old and in with the new,'" he said.
Some observers say voters were mad at incumbents because of the school system's financial crisis and recent budget-cutting.
"To me, it looked like the public was ready for change," said Sarah Smith, co-president of the Dunwoody Chamblee Parents' Council representing 14 North DeKalb schools.
Incumbent Speaks earned Smith's vote by opposing the 2013 budget, but Smith suspects other voters — angry over the classroom cost cutting — directed their ire at all board members up for re-election. "The budget cuts predominantly came from the school house," Smith said. "It's disappointing that there wasn't as much cutting in the central office."
Board member Nancy Jester of Dunwoody said she thinks incumbent rage was less influential than technical changes to this year's election. State legislators recently changed the school board polling date to July, when, she noted, some parents are vacationing before the start of school. It used to be in November. Lawmakers also redrew the election map, moving some of McChesney's power base into another post, Jester said. "Reapportionment did not do him any favors."
Whatever the motive, parents and taxpayers will see a third of the nine-member school board replaced if Womack loses the runoff. A fourth incumbent, Tom Bowen, did not see re-election. Melvin Johnson and Denise McGill emerged Tuesday as the leading candidates to succeed him in the runoff.
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