Write-in candidate Tom Milliron lost his bid for Juneau School Board to Brian Holst and Sean O’Brien in Tuesday’s election.
Holst won with more than 3,600 votes and is new to the board. O’Brien returns to the board with more than 2,500 votes. Write-ins – likely from Milliron backers – got 1,860 votes.
Holst described how he felt upon seeing the unofficial results:
“Happy to have the opportunity to serve, really appreciate the support that so many people in the community provided for me. Thrilled at the turnout today and from what I can see of the turnout, looks like it was a good turnout and yeah, just really happy right now.”
Although Holst has community board experience and served on a school board when he lived in Serbia with his family, he is mindful of the demands Juneau will have on him.
“I feel a big responsibility. I feel like I’ve spent time learning more, but I recognize that there’s a lot more to learn, so (I’ll) try to use my free time to continue to educate myself about the needs of our school district and the policies and the particulars.”
School Superintendent Mark Miller is a recent transplant from California and has gotten to know both Holst and O’Brien.
“Sean’s been in the last couple of months, a very strong supporting member of the board and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with him. Brian has almost been almost a pseudo board member,” Miller says. “I think he’s going to be a perfect, excellent fit to move the district forward and make Juneau School District an even better district than it is already.”
You can read more about the municipal election results here.
