Seattle School Board Early Election Results

Update

The update is that the numbers in these four races have not really changed in a second drop of votes. 

I will be live-blogging the superintendent announcement, set to start in about 30 minutes.

end of update


Analysis

Ah, the power of The Stranger.  They got Kathleen Smith elected even as she ran a very low-key campaign. Their endorsement of Jen LaVallee probably helped her quite a lot given her race didn't start until the general election. 

These results are with 20.26% of the vote counted. I thought I understood that the turnout wasn't great so I don't expect there will be any change. 

I note that The Stranger does not appear - at this point - to have pulled off electing Katie Wilson over Bruce Harrell for mayor. 

As for the balance of power on the School Board, it appears there will be a shift. If I had to line them up, it would be Rankin, Smith and Briggs on one side while it's Topp, Mizrahi, Song, and LaVallee on the other. I mean this in terms of SOFG. 

It will be interesting to see how they all settle into their new roles. At least they don't have to worry about a new superintendent to watch out for. 

D2

Kathleen Smith  52.29%

Sarah Clark  47.06%


D4

Joe Mizrahi  76.17%

Laura Marie Rivera  23.30%


D5

Vivian Song  76.68%

Janis White  22.69%


D7 

Jen LaVallee 55.84%

Carol Rava  43.49%



Comments

Anonymous said…
Too early to call the mayor's race. These are only from the early voters and there's every reason to think they'll be statistically different from the later voters.
- Patrick
11/4/25, 11:05 PM
Anonymous said…
This is the Stranger’s school board. The rest of us don’t matter. Your analysis of the board dynamics is correct but Rankin and LaVallee have always been friendly. The Stranger may well have revived school closures thanks to their bizarre war against Sarah Clark.

Buckle Up
11/5/25, 5:02 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Patrick, you are certainly right. My impression is that The Stranger voters tend to vote last minute.

Buckle Up,I did say my Board majority was about SOFG. It's good for Board members to have a friendly relationship with each other.

As for school closures, I still say it's is going to happen. The district has boxed themselves in (on purpose) and I'm sure the new super will go along (no matter how reluctantly). I think the only thing that could stop it is a big surge of new enrollment. Maybe the new superintendent's presence might engender that, I don't know.
11/5/25, 5:58 AM
Anonymous said…
This is TJB
Look for big changes to school start times too - the heady days of the late secondary start time to support adolescent sleep is near its end
TJB
11/5/25, 1:32 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Nepotism in Seattle Schools

Update: Following a scandal at Aki Kurose Middle School, apparently the district has pulled the principal, Caine Lowery who leaves Aki for a promotion to Central Office to support/train/guide principals. Hmm. I also note that former Rainier View Elementary principal Anitra Jones, who was removed from that school, still doesn't show up on the staff roster at Rainier Beach High School where it was stated she would be. Where is she? Who knows?  end of update   This is going to be a difficult post to write because it is sad to see what looks like a norm now at JSCEE. The norm I speak of is largely an occurrence with principals as well as JSCEE senior staff. I also know that this is not going to surprise most who works at JSCEE. The norm I'm referring to is the one where some personnel have personal connections within the district that sees them moving between jobs and even getting promoted based on those relationships. In short, nepotism.  This district is risk-adverse wh...
Read more