Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad and Johanna Wright, both incumbents, and Susie Adamson all won seats on the South Orange- Maplewood Board of Education Tuesday.
There were five candidates running for three seats on the nine-member Board of Education; the terms are for three years. Lawson-Muhammad ran on a ticket with James Davis III. Anthony Mazzocchi came in fourth place in the voting.
With 93.94% of the vote counted, Lawson-Muhammad had 8,095 votes (or 24.31%), Wright had 7,982 votes (23.97%), and Adamson had 6,880 votes (20.66%).
Mazzocchi was running at 4th with 5,875 (17.64%) and Davis was 5th with 4,403 votes (13.22%).
“I am humbled by the support our community showed,” said Lawson-Muhammad in a phone interview. “I’m very excited to be able to continue the work I started three years ago. I care deeply for the community and its children, and I am committed to continuing to serve all its children each and every day.”
Lawson-Muhammad said she was “blessed” to run with Davis, and was “blown away by his commitment, passion and ideas.” She continued, “I see in him a leader, someone our community should be proud to have. He will continue to look forwards to make an impact.
Adamson said, “I am so incredibly grateful for the manifold support of all of those who worked so hard to help give me this opportunity to serve our district in this new role. I approach this responsibility with great humility and gravity and am prepared to do the hard work needed to move our schools forward.”
She continued, “I have thoroughly enjoyed every conversation I’ve had with teachers, parents, and community members during this election season. These perspectives and stories were invaluable and I intend to continue to represent the myriad interests of our diverse community. Sincere thanks to Tony and James for their demonstrated commitment to the conversation. Their perspectives enriched mine. Congratulations to Stephanie and Johanna. I look forward to working side by side with them and the rest of the Board members and Administration to better serve our students.”
The Village Green has reached out to the other candidates and will update this article.
