Voters are electing Tim Clark and Awale Farah as the new members to the Kent School Board.
Clark received 60.51% (9,210 votes) of the vote while Sara Franklin had 38.82% (5,909 votes), according to King County Elections results posted Tuesday night, Nov. 2. Farah had 58.34% (8,930 votes) while Brad Kenning received 41.18% (6,304 votes).
Voter turnout in the Kent School District was 21.84% of registered voters as of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to King County Elections.
Joe Bento ran unopposed. The board appointed him in February to replace Leah Bowen, who resigned after one year in office.
Clark lost a 2013 mayoral race against incumbent Suzette Cooke. Prior to running for mayor, Clark served 16 years on the Kent City Council and four years on the Kent School Board. Clark will replace Maya Vengadasalam, who decided not to seek reelection.
Clark emphasized during the campaign his experience with the school district, serving 14 years before he retired, most of it on staff at Kentridge High School.
Franklin, who works for King County, was the only school board candidate to declare contributions, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. She received $4,140, including $1,000 from the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 8 and $500 from Kim-Khanh Van, the Renton City Councilmember challenging incumbent Reagan Dunn for the King County Council.
Clark had 52% of the vote and Franklin 30% out of three candidates in the August primary to advance to the general election.
Franklin lost a Kent City Council primary race in 2019 to incumbent Les Thomas and challenger Hira Singh Bhullar.
Farah will replace Denise Daniels, who decided not to seek reelection. Farah had 44% of the vote and Kenning 31% out of four candidates in the August primary to advance to the general election. Farah is a small business owner and telecommunications engineer while Kenning is a real estate agent.
Farah lost a Kent City Council race to Zandria Michaud in 2019.
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