Wilson wins another term on Walker Board of Education
Republican incumbent Dale Wilson has won another term on the Walker County Board of Education.
Wilson amassed 6,199 votes (61.46%) of the 10,086 votes cast in the Board of Education Post 4 race against first-time challenger Lindsay Bradford. Bradford garnered 3,887 votes (38.54 %). No Democratic or third-party candidates qualified for the race in March.
A lifelong resident of Walker County, Wilson captured 2,561 of the 4,465 votes cast on Election Day. He also held a winning margin in both absentee ballots (2,957-1,587) and advance voting (681-396).
The results are unofficial, pending counting of a few provisional ballots, according to the Walker County Board of Elections.
A business owner who previously taught in the county school system for eight years, Wilson has previously served as both the chair and vice chair on the school board.
“We have seen lots of growth and success in our schools,” Wilson said on Thursday, June 11. “I believe our stakeholders are happy with the school system and want to continue with the same momentum. I have also tried to be transparent, honest and accountable the last seven years and plan to do the same the next term.”
During the campaign, Wilson said that he would like to see continued growth in the county’s high school graduation rate, citing a 19% increase over the past seven years.
He also stressed the need to continue the growth of technology and to continue to grow and expand facilities for students at the schools, including classrooms, labs and upgrades to athletic facilities.
Bradford’s, Wilson’s challenger, is also a lifelong resident of the county and taught general and special education at the elementary and middle school level in Walker County for nine years. She has also served as a preschool teacher with Foundations at First in LaFayette for eight years.
The former LaFayette High School valedictorian is a mother of three students at three different county schools and is an officer in the Parent Teacher Organization at North LaFayette Elementary. She is the bookkeeper for two businesses she owns with her husband.
Bradford previously stated during the campaign that, if elected, that she would “collaborate with other hard-working district representatives to remove barriers and support our teachers and staff.”
“I would work to set a vision and align goals and policies that focus on achievement and success for all,” she said. “Parents, teachers, administrators, school staff and county employees are on the front lines with our students, working diligently to ensure students are safe, fed, educated, and cared for on a daily basis.”
Bradford had not immediately responded to a Wednesday, June 10, email request for comment about the June 9 election results.
Two other Republican incumbents, Karen Stoker (Post 1) and Phyllis Hunter (post 5), ran unopposed. No one qualified as a Democrat or as a third-party candidate for either of those school board seats.