Early counts show leads in five North County school districts

Voters in North County received early indications of their school board elections on Tuesday. The San Diego County Registrar of Voters released unofficial counts for races in Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Marcos, Vista, and Escondido at 8:05 p.m. Pacific on Nov. 3. The numbers show current leads for candidates in all five districts.

In Carlsbad, incumbent Michele Tsutagawa Ward leads Trustee Area 1 with 2,385 votes, or 68.53 percent, against Amber Martinez, who has 1,095 votes. In Area 4, challenger Tracey Perrault leads incumbent Gretchen Vurbeff, 2,704 to 2,359. Chris Waidelich leads Joel Gutierrez in Area 5, 2,114 to 1,570. Kathy Rallings, the incumbent for Area 5, is not on the ballot.

Oceanside residents are seeing leads for incumbents in two of three contests. Nancy Licona leads Jerry Garcia Avila in Area 1, 1,949 to 1,342. Raquel Riojas Alvarez leads Jason Bethurum in Area 4, 2,246 to 1,723. Joey Pearson leads Nicole Watson in Area 3, 1,727 to 1,542. Stacy Begin, the incumbent for Area 3, is not seeking another term.

In San Marcos, Christine Baker leads Derrick Davis in Trustee Area E, 3,151 to 2,527. Stacy Carlson is not on the ballot for that seat. The county lists no election for Area C, where incumbent Andrés Martín is the sole qualified candidate.

Vista Unified School District shows incumbent Martha Alvarado leading Jon Moffat in Trustee Area 3, 3,812 to 1,903. Alvarado is a teacher and Marine Corps veteran who was first elected in 2018. The district has no election for the Area 2 seat, which is held by incumbent Rena Marrocco.

Escondido voters will see results from three seats in the Union School District and three in the Union High School District. In the elementary district, Zesty Harper leads Maggie Cascio in Area 4, 3,614 to 2,330. Elizabeth Shulok leads Chris Ranglas in Area 2, 4,521 to 3,816. Bonnie Wagner leads Frank Huston in Area 5, 3,302 to 2,600. The high school district counts show Bob Weller leading Nina Haines in Area 1, 1,397 to 973, and David Vincent leading Georgine Tomasi in Area 5, 4,486 to 2,915. Joe Hinrichs leads Rafaela Cervantes and Mark Lucas in Area 2, 3,368 to 2,784 to 1,224.