Blakely edges Hughes; Ortiz, Newburn claim State Education Board victories
Two representatives on the Nevada’s State Board of Education were re-elected Tuesday, and a former member of the Higher Education Board of Regents narrowly won a third seat.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Robert Blakely, a former member of the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents, had defeated former principal Tim Hughes in District 1. Blakely registered 74,099 voted to Hughes’ 72,035 votes.
In the other two races in which Clark County voters casted ballots, incumbent Felicia Ortiz edged businessman Dave Hales by 53.15 percent to 46.85 percent in District 3 and incumbent Mark Newburn beat back the challenge of retired New Jersey educator Len Marciano, with a 58.29 percent to 41.71 percent advantage in District 4. Ortiz received 130,410 votes; Hales garnered 114,965. Newburn claimed a 108,069-77,326 advantage.
The Board of Education, which includes seven political appointees and four elected members, sets public education policies in the state and helps oversee local issues, notably including the pending breakup of the Clark County School District. All members serve four-year terms.
Blakely, an Uber driver and insurance salesman who served as a regent for about six years, ran with an emphasis on reviewing teacher performance and hiring locals to teach. He ran opposed to the breakup of CCSD.
Newburn and Ortiz, meanwhile, joined a unanimous vote in September to approve regulations supporting the breakup of CCSD.
Ortiz, a businesswoman, made additional training and resources for teachers a focus of her campaign.
Newburn, a computer scientist, focused his campaign on support for STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — education in K-12 settings. He plans to renew the push when his new term begins in January.
“That’s why I ran four years ago,” he said Tuesday as he drove around retrieving campaign signs. “We’re not producing enough workers for these fields.”
Contact Pashtana Usufzy at pusufzy@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @pashtana_u on Twitter.
