Wednesday Primary election results from the OC Registrar of Voters, Orange Unified School Board Trustees Rick Ledesma and Madison Miner were on track to be removed from office as a majority of voters cast ballots in support of a recall.
The result update Wednesday evening showed Ledesma was likely to lose his seat with 53% of voters choosing to recall, while about 47% chose to keep him – a difference of 1,743 votes – according to the OC Registrar of Voters.
Miner also appears to have lost her seat with about 53% voters choosing to recall, while 47% chose to keep her – a difference of 1,644 votes.
The margins between the yes and no votes shrank as ballot counts were updated late into Tuesday night.
Recall efforts against the two trustees kicked off with support from parents and teachers in January 2023 after Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen was abruptly fired.
Ledesma and Miner say the recall is a teacher union-backed attack on parent rights.
[Read: Two Orange Unified School Board Members Face March Recall Election]
Hansen was hired a couple months later in 2023 as the superintendent of the Westminster School District and recently received the Association of California School Administrators Region 17 Orange County Superintendent of the Year award.
Beyond the firing of Hansen, Ledesma and Miner have faced criticism for their support of a host of controversial district policies.
This includes transgender notification policy, temporarily suspending their digital library over concerns of age inappropriate books and banning the flying on LGBTQ+ flag on district flagpoles.
If the two trustees are recalled, the board will have to choose between appointing two people to fill the vacancies until the November election, call a special election to fill the spots or wait until November for voters to elect two new board members.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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