Voters complete their ballots Tuesday evening at the Washington County Fairgrounds. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
MARIETTA – Four candidates ran for three seats on the Marietta City Schools Board of Education with incumbent Cody Parman and newcomers Chris Fennell and Steven Taylor Huffman winning the majority vote according to unofficial election results from the Washington County Board of Elections Tuesday evening.
With 22 precincts reporting, the four candidates were within a few hundred votes of each opponent.
It was Fennell’s first time running for election and he said it was very exciting.
“It’s a privilege to run with the other candidates and I’m looking forward to working alongside everyone,” Fennell said.
Annika Miller was a few hundred votes behind the three majority candidates. Similar to Fennell and Huffman, it was her first time running for a political position as well.
“It was a very good experience campaigning with the other candidates,” said Miller. “The guys are great and I felt confident that no matter what the outcome was, our district would be in great hands.”
Miller said she had gotten to know the other candidates through the campaign process and it was a very positive experience.
“I’m glad I was able to do this and there’s other ways I can continue to help and contribute to the district,” she said.
Huffman wasn’t able to be reached for comment on the evening of the election.
Parman was first elected to the school board in 2021 and decided to run again to continue helping the district. He was unable to be reached for comment by deadline.
With four candidates vying for three open seats for the Belpre City Schools Board of Education during the 2025 general election, the race was a close one with the third and fourth place candidates finishing only 31 votes apart.
With 76 provisional ballots still to be counted in Washington County, this could mathematically change.
Incumbent Mike Miller finished with the highest total tallying 744 votes and Fred Meredith, also an incumbent, finished second in voting with 735 votes.
“I’d like to thank the community for their support,” Meredith said Tuesday night. “Our students’ safety and academic future is just some of the vision for their new school and our community.”
Miller said he was very fortunate to get another chance to serve on the board.
“All of the candidates were very capable and would have done a wonderful job,” Miller said Tuesday night.
Mollie Haught, the third incumbent who was seeking her second term, finished with 634 votes, while newcomer Jordan Jewett finished with 603 votes. These results could change after the county counts the 76 provisional votes when the canvass is conducted Nov. 12.
Incumbent Johnna Zalmanek was reelected to one of three open seats on the Fort Frye Local Board of Education. Rodney West was the top vote-getter with 781 votes, followed by Zalmanek with 708 and Joe Prieto with 629. Mary Weinstock received 376 votes. There were 552 write-in votes cast. Dawn Spurr was the only official write-in candidate, but they were not all necessarily for her.
Three new members were elected to the Frontier Local Board of Education with no incumbents running. Maggie D. McConnell and Jeanne Marie Kerns received 584 and 581 votes, respectively, while Brenda D. Wilson got 479. That should be enough to secure her the third seat over Rachele Slonaker, who received 424. Amanda Wolfe and Ivy Ferrell got 374 and 263 votes, respectively.
There were two seats on the ballot for the Wolf Creek Local Board of Education, won by Shawna M. Landaker with 498 votes and incumbent Scott R. Lang with 432. There were two official write-ins, Travis Schaad and Neil Huck, and a total of 340 write-in votes.
Four seats on the Warren Local Board of Education were unopposed. Three candidates, incumbent Bob Crum, Clifford Pettey and incumbent Bob Allen, a write-in, were unopposed in their bids for full four-year terms. Incumbent Stacy Greenup, appointed to the board in early 2024, was the only candidate running to complete that term.
City Editor Evan Bevins contributed to this story.
Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com
Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com