Ortiz leads in race for state education board seat in District 3

Incumbent Felicia Ortiz held a significant lead against her opponents running for the State Board of Education in District 3 after Tuesday’s primary, according to preliminary results.

Races for seats in District 1 and 4 were much closer, the partial results show.

The board is the governance arm for the Nevada Department of Education and sets standards for students and policy to ensure equal access to education. It also directs money to programs to retain teachers.

The Wednesday morning preliminary results are unofficial, according to the Nevada secretary of state’s website.

District 3

Ortiz had a strong lead with 30,922 and 60.76 percent of votes. Bruce James-Newman was in second place with 13,776 votes, and Justin “Steeve Strange” Mickanen was in third with 6,195 votes, according to the partial results.

Ortiz is seeking her second term. Newman, running as nonpartisan, is a registered Libertarian and is interested in decentralizing education.

“I’m super thrilled and completely honored people still have their trust in me,” Ortiz said, adding that she tried to stay up all night for the results but eventually succumbed to sleep. She learned of the preliminary results Wednesday morning from a text message from a friend. If re-elected she said she would focus on equity issues, especially those related to distance learning.

“I am being unapologetic on making sure everything we do is equity focused,” she said. “The amount of systemic racism that exists in our schools and all the way up to the Department of Education is horrible.”

District 1

Tim Hughes was leading the race in District 1 with 9,453 votes and 36.68 percent against his four opponents, according to preliminary results released Wednesday. The job is currently held by Robert Blakely, who is not running for re-election.

Angelo Casino received 5,830 votes, 22.62 percent; Michael Robison received 4,187 votes, 16.25 percent; Aaron Mason received 3,839 votes, 14.9 percent, and Steve Esh received 2,463 votes, 9.56 percent, the partial results show.

Hughes is a former teacher and principal and currently works as the vice president to TNTP, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending educational inequity.

“While there are still many more votes to count, I am hopeful that I will have an opportunity to continue to work with our diverse and amazing families, communities, and educators across District 1 to support our students,” Hughes said in an email Wednesday.

District 4

Mark Newburn had 476 votes more than Rene Cantu, according to unofficial partial results. Both received more than 19,000 votes. Vincent Richardson was in third with 12,734 votes.

Newburn is vying for his third term on the State Board of Education.

Newburn, 60, will be running on the same platform that he did in 2012 when Las Vegas was just coming out of the Great Recession: supporting STEM education in an effort to diversify the economy.

Turnout was higher than expected, Newburn said, adding that the State Board of Education races are “supposed to be close by design.” Richardson had shaved off some of his supporters, whom he hopes to win back during the general election.

“I’m trying to run on the changes that I’ve made,” he said. “We will see what will happen.”

Cantu is the executive director for the nonprofit Jobs for Nevada’s Graduates Inc.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Alex Chhith at achhith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0290. Follow @alexchhith on Twitter.