In one of the most contentious state school board races of the election, incumbent Molly Hart, a Republican, had a slight lead over Democrat challenger John Arthur for the District 7 seat of the Utah State Board of Education, early returns showed.
As of 10:30 p.m., that first round of early returns saw Hart capture 50% of the vote for the district, which covers the southeast portion of Salt Lake County. Arthur was close behind with 49%.
Hart is seeking a second term. She advanced to the general election after defeating GOP opponent Kris Kimball in the June primary with 55% of the vote. While Kimball had secured the Utah Republican Party nomination, Hart gathered enough signatures to make it onto the ticket.
Arthur is a teacher at Meadowlark Elementary in the Salt Lake City School District. He was named Utah Teacher of the Year in 2021 and was one of four National Teacher of the Year finalists. Arthur also serves an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Education at Westminster University; the director of candidate recruitment for the Utah National Board Coalition; and co-director of the Utah Teacher Fellows, a nonprofit dedicated to teacher development.
Eight of the 15 seats on the partisan state board were up for grabs this year. Two of those were decided in the GOP primary.
The first was District 13, where incumbent Randy Boothe defeated GOP opponent Cari Bartholomew with 52.5% of the primary vote. This seat represents part of Utah County.
The other was District 15, which covers Piute, Wayne, Kane, Washington, Garfield and San Juan counties. GOP challenger Joann Brinton knocked out incumbent Kristan Norton with 68.8% of the vote.
Here’s how the other six races stood as of late Tuesday.
Early state school board returns
District 3
In District 3, which covers, east Layton, Clearfield and nearby cities, Republican Rod Hall was pulling ahead of Utah Forward candidate Laura Johnson with 69.17% of the vote, according to early returns late Tuesday.
District 6
District 6 Democrat incumbent Carol Lear was pacing ahead of Diane Livingston, who is running unaffiliated with 74.81% of the vote. The winner will represent the eastern part of Salt Lake County and the westernmost part of Summit County.
District 9
Republican Amanda Bollinger was leading Democrat Will Shiflett with 66.88% for the seat currently held by controversial state school board member Natalie Cline.
Cline’s reelection bid ended after she failed to secure delegates’ approval at the Salt Lake County Republican Nominating Convention in April. This came after controversy over her since-deleted Facebook post questioning a high school athlete’s gender.
District 9 covers southern Salt Lake County and northern Utah County.
District 10
District 10 Republican incumbent Matt Hymas was striding ahead of Democrat challenger Deborah Gatrell with 64.38% of the vote in a district that covers a majority of Tooele County, according to early returns late Tuesday.
District 12
District 12 Republican Cole Kelley was gaining ground against Jason Allen, who is running unaffiliated with 75.3% of the vote. Current USBE Chair James Moss was knocked out of the seat in the GOP Convention. The district includes eastern Utah County as well as Wasatch, Duchesne, Daggett and Uintah counties.
