Close races in districts 1 and 7 for Orange School Board spur recount

By the end of election night, it looked like there was a winner in the three-way race for the district 1 seat on the Orange County School Board. Angie Gallo had 50.05 percent of the vote, enough to win outright and avoid a runoff election in November.

But Bill Cowles, Orange County’s supervisor of elections, said Wednesday there are enough provisional ballots yet uncounted to change that outcome.

They couldn’t knock Gallo out of first place, but they may mean she won less than 50 percent — the threshold needed to win on primary night — and that she and Heather Traynham, who won 32.2 percent of the vote, must meet in the Nov. 6 election. Traynham was the second-place finisher.

When all precincts in the district reported their results Tuesday, Gallo was just under 50 percent, but she bumped over that mark after mail-in ballots were counted later, Cowles said. The canvassing board will meet today, he said, to count the provisional ballots and any ballots that didn’t get scanned at the precincts. It could, based on any new results, also decide to do a recount of all ballots Friday, before it’s determined if Gallo won Tuesday or must face Traynham Nov. 6.

The district 1 board member represents an area that includes Winter Park and a portion of east Orange.

The canvassing board also will count provisional ballots and any other uncounted ballots from the school board district 7 race — which includes a portion of west Orange takes Apopka, Ocoee and Winter Garden.

In that case, there is no doubt that Melissa Mitchell Byrd was the top finisher, winning 45.3 percent of the vote.

But the second place finisher, Eric Schwalbach, was less than half a percent ahead of third-place finisher, Chan-Denise Budhoo, winning 22.97 percent of the vote to her 22.56 percent.

If those results stand, there will be a recount — as the law requires — to make sure Schwalbach rightly faces Byrd in November.

“All we’re doing is verifying that the right person is going forward,” Cowles said.

The canvassing board will meet at Cowles’ office, 119 W. Kaley St., Orlando that in