Two of three Spokane school board primaries have clear winners; Position 1 still up for grabs

All summer, Spokane Public Schools board candidate Jenny Slagle delivered a message about diversity and inclusion.

Voters responded in Tuesday’s primary election, giving Slagle a solid victory in the Position 2 race and a spot on the November ballot against Kelli MacFarlane for a six-year term.

Slagle was the top vote-getter among nine candidates in all three board races, with 11,388 votes, or 42.8 percent.

MacFarlane, who has worked as a teacher since 2005 and has been a substitute in Spokane Public Schools for the last two years, picked up 9,756 votes, well ahead of third-place Luc Jasmin III at 5,387.

“I am just appreciative of everybody coming out to vote,” said Slagle, director of tribal relations at Better Health Together. “I think it shows that with the communities I’ve been a part of, that those people got behind some of the thoughts and ideas that I have.”

It was a far closer affair in Position 1, where Nikki Lockwood and Katey Treloar are running first and second after raising a combined $21,400.

Lockwood moved into the general election with 10,204 votes, or 36.7 percent. Treloar has 9,014 votes and Brian Trimble is trailing with 8,274 votes.

More votes will be tallied on Wednesday.

However, Treloar is already looking ahead to November.

“I’m really excited about the numbers,” said Treloar, who taught in the district from 2005 to 2012.

“In the next eight weeks we need to start bringing more attention to the school board. … There’s so many issues I want to talk about,” Treloar said Tuesday night.

Like Slagle, Lockwood worked to send a message about diversity.

“The strong community support for my candidacy has been amazing,” said Lockwood, a longtime volunteer at the school and district level and a local organizer for ACLU of Washington.

“I believe these primary results show that Spokane wants to include leaders that reflect the diversity in our community and in our schools,” Lockwood said.

In Position 4, Erin Georgen and Kevin Morrison will face off in the general election after finishing well ahead of third-place Bill Baxley.

“I am just humbled and still in a moment of shock,” said Georgen, who polled 10,288 votes, or 38.4 percent.

Georgen, who works as a part-time, on-call physical therapy assistant for St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute, said she hopes that her medical experience “will bring some perspective to the table” on the issue of school safety.

Morrison, who worked for the district for 14 years in capital projects and community relations, was close behind with 9,735 votes. Baxley had 6,460.

The winner in November will serve out the remaining two years of a term that began in 2015 with the election of Paul Schneider, who resigned two years later.

Schneider’s appointed successor, Brian Newberry, opted not to run.