Update: Sacramento trustee concedes to union-backed underdog in school board shakeup
An incumbent Sacramento City Unified School District trustee conceded her election on Friday to a union-backed newcomer in what could become a turning point for the school board.
Trustee Leticia Garcia on Facebook wrote that she congratulated nonprofit director Jasjit Singh for his win in their race to represent the school board’s Area 2.
“Thank you to the voters, supporters, and volunteers who have entrusted me to be a voice for our community! Honored to be the Trustee Elect for Sacramento City Unified School District, Area 2,” Singh wrote on Twitter.
He was one of three contenders the Sacramento City Teachers Association backed this election in the unions effort the union’s eight-day strike earlier this year. The union spent tens of thousands of dollars on the election, sending mailers to voters in which teachers expressed support for candidates Singh, Tara Jeane and Taylor Kayatta.
New election results released Friday show all three of those union-supported candidates pulling ahead of their opponents.
If the trend holds, Kayatta would unseat incumbent Trustee Darrell Woo and Jeane would defeat state attorney Anna Molander Hermann in an open race to succeed Trustee Lisa Murawski.
Singh trailed Garcia in early results on Election Night in the race to represent East Sacramento on the school board. In new election results released Friday, Singh now leads Garcia by almost 1,000 votes, leading with 53.4%
In the district’s Area 1 representing Land Park and midtown, Jeane holds a lead against Hermann, 51% to 48%. Their race is separated by over 400 votes.
In Area 6 representing the Pocket and Greenhaven, Kayatta for the first time has a lead against three-term incumbent Trustee Woo
Kayatta, a government attorney and parent advocate, holds nearly 52% of the votes, 6,853 to 6,329.
“I remain confident that when all of the votes are counted, I will be elected the first new board member to represent Sac City Area 6 in 12 years,” Kayatta told The Bee earlier this week.
Sacramento County still has about 145,000 votes to count, so leads in the school board races could change again.
The election follows an eight-day strike that shut down the school district last spring. It led to a labor agreement that boosted salaries for teachers, provided bonuses to them and addressed a number of issues related to spending on COVID-19 precautions. It was the union’s fourth vote to strike over five years and its second actual walkout over that period.
In 2020, the teachers union supported Trustee Lavinia Grace Phillips in her upset victory over then-school board President Jessie Ryan. The school board has seven elected members. Union-backed candidates would have a majority on the board if the two unresolved races break for Jeane and Kayatta.
This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 4:34 PM.