After securing 46 percent of the vote in August, Scott Shine exceeded that Tuesday to win the race for School Board District 2 seat.
Shine defeated Sam Hall in a runoff Tuesday night, securing 20,478 votes (57.62 percent) compared to Sam Hall’s 15,063 votes (42.38 percent), according to unofficial results from the Supervisor of Elections Office.
Shine isn’t new to public office, having been appointed to the Jacksonville Ethics Commission and the Jacksonville Waterways Commission.
He said Tuesday that after campaigning for 10 months, he was happy to prevail.
“I’d say it looks like the night has shined on me,” he said.
He said his goals are to improve overall education and workforce readiness while recruiting and retaining quality educators. Initially, he said he’d like to do what he can to improve teacher morale.
“I feel like we have problems because of testing and stress on educators,” he said.
Shine praised Superintendent Nikolai Vitti for his push in exploring new methods of teaching, especially through technology, and would like to continue that direction.
Another push: He’s an advocate for selling the Duval County School Board’s building on the Southbank riverfront and moving the offices Downtown. There, he said, the school board can integrate leadership with other entities like City Council, the court system and State Attorney’s Office.
“Education and economics are directly tied together,” he said.
Hall made the runoff after edging Theresa Graham by four votes in the August primary. With none of the candidates receiving the required 50 percent, plus-one minimum needed to win outright in August, the runoff was required.
The seat was one of three up for grabs during this election cycle. District 4 was won by incumbent Paula Wright in August. District 6 was won by incumbent Becki Couch, who ran unopposed.
@writerchapman
(904) 356-2466