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Nov 07, 2024

Selma resident Tonya Chestnut reelected to Alabama Board of Education | News | blackbeltnewsnetwork.com

Birmingham, Ala. – Current Alabama Board of Education member and Democrat Tonya Chestnut defeated Republican challenger David Perry and will return for a second four-year term representing District 5.

Birmingham, Ala. – Current Alabama Board of Education member and Democrat Tonya Chestnut defeated Republican challenger David Perry and will return for a second four-year term representing District 5. Her seat was one of four state board of education seats up for a vote, but three were decided in the March primary.

Chestnut received 55% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Chestnut, a lifelong educator and current vice president of the state board, was first elected to the office in 2020. Her district includes much of Alabama’s Black Belt, including Macon, Bullock, Lowndes, Autauga, Dallas, Wilcox, Monroe, Marengo, Sumter, Choctaw, Washington, Clarke and parts of Mobile and Montgomery counties.

She is one of two Democrats on the eight-member state board of education. Gov. Kay Ivey serves as president of the state board by virtue of her office.

Other races decided in March primary

District 1 Republican Jackie Zeigler faced no primary or general election challengers and will begin her third term in January. Her district includes Baldwin, Escambia, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Covington, Coffee and part of Mobile county.

Districts 3 and 7 board seats were finalized in the March primary, where more than half a million dollars was raised by Republican candidates. Both were open seats due to Republican incumbents not running for re-election.

Republican Allen Long defeated two primary challengers and faced no challengers in the general election. He replaces one-term District 7 Republican Belinda McRae who chose not to run for re-election.

District 7 includes much of northwest Alabama, including Lauderdale, Lawrence, Colbert, Franklin, Marion, Lamar, Winston, Walker, Fayette, Morgan, Pickens and parts of Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties.

Republican Kelly Mooney defeated three challengers in the District 3 primary election and had no challengers in the general election. She will represent a district that includes parts of central and east-central Alabama.

District 3 includes Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Elmore and Shelby counties, as well as parts of Jefferson, Montgomery and Talladega counties.

Longtime District 3 Republican Stephanie Bell, first elected in 1994, chose not to run for re-election.

New board of education terms begin in January, immediately upon being sworn in.

The winners will join board members Tracie West, a Republican in District 2; Yvette Richardson, a Democrat in District 4; Marie Manning, a Republican in District 6; and Wayne Reynolds, a Republican in District 8. They were elected or reelected in 2022.

Read more at aldailynews.com.

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