Marsh, Ziegler head for Sarasota School Board runoff. Goodwin, Brown win re-election

Posted by Jacob Ogles on Tuesday Aug 26, 2014 8:36 pm

Two Sarasota School Board members coasted to re-election on Tuesday night, and a third is preparing for a November runoff. Bridget Ziegler, who was appointed to the School Board by Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year, will face Ken Marsh, the retired director of long-term planning for the school district. The two face off in November for the District 1 seat.

School Board members Jane Goodwin and Shirley Brown, both challenged by anti-Common Core candidates, handily won re-election to the District 5 and 4 seats respectively.

The District 1 race was among the most closely watched in the region, especially after Ziegler, wife of Republican Party of Sarasota state committeeman Christian Ziegler, was appointed to the vacancy on the board. Unofficial final election results showed Marsh was the top vote-getter with 40.64 percent of the vote to Ziegler's 36.81 percent. Challengers Paul Schafer and Velton Hodges pulled in 14.53 percent and 8.02 percent respectively. Since no candidate pulled in a majority of votes, a runoff is necessary.

"I'm really prod of being top vote-getter given the person who finished second was appointed to the position and is well-connected politically in town and i am not," Marsh said. "My support was just across the spectrum geographically and politically."

Ziegler said she is looking forward to continue building experience while serving on the board and looking forward to the next 10 weeks of campaigning. "I am speaking for families," she said. "That is what I am running on and what I believe in, and that is what will be the biggest differentiation between the two of us."

Brown took 66.44 percent of votes to defeat challenger Helen Wolff, while Goodwin took 70.44 percent of the vote in her race against Randy McLendon. Brown considered the vote an endorsement of Common Core standards and the direction the district is headed. "Our community supports quality higher education," she said. "They understood those higher standards are for our students to succeed." Brown also said she was pleased Marsh was the top vote-getter in his election and would work to see him elected.

Ziegler said she remains concerned about the implementation of the standards and has heard similar consternation among parents.

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Tags:   Bridget Ziegler  featured  Ken Marsh

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