Incumbent Marks leads in Modesto school board race. West, Daly race is close.
Early results show incumbent Modesto City Schools board member Cindy Marks leading her opponent Maria Elena Magana. The most recent update from the Stanislaus County elections office, at 11:47 p.m. Tuesday, shows Marks with 3,030 votes, or 58.8%. Magana has 2,120 votes, or 41.2%.
Marks’ fellow incumbent Charlene West and challenger Jolene Daly are in a tighter race. In that same results update, West leads by just 74 votes: 2,296 to 2,222. That’s 50.8% of the vote, to Daly’s 49.2%.
West has significant local and even statewide experience. She has been in office since 1997 and has run unopposed for the Modesto City School Board since 2013. She also has served as the president of the statewide California School Board Association. The election would place Marks on the path to be among the state’s longest-serving elected officials. US Senator Dianne Feinstein, by comparison, has served just 5 years more.
“It’s been a privilege and honor to serve on the school board for these last 25 years. If tonight’s preliminary results hold, I’m grateful to the voters for entrusting me with the opportunity to serve for the next four years,” she said.
Her district includes swaths of northwest Modesto and Salida. Her challenger, Maria Elena Magana, currently serves on the Salida Union School Board. Magana criticized the district’s efforts around school safety and equity and gained the endorsement of the Stanislaus County Democratic Party.
The race between West and therapist Daly is much closer. The victor will represent sections of east Modesto, including the airport neighborhood and Empire.
“It’s much closer than I expected,” said West, “whichever way this goes, my intent is to be gracious, whether as a gracious winner or a gracious loser.” She noted that Daly ran a strong campaign, knocking on many doors in the area.
Daly has run for office before, filing for a seat in Congress (2021) and a seat in the California Senate (2022). This would be her first elected office.
In a September interview with the Bee editorial board, Daly questioned the need for additional taxes as proposed in ballot measure L. Earliest returns show that the measure, which aims to improve high school facilities, might barely pass the 55 percent approval needed to win.
Both Board President Adolfo Lopez and Vice President Chad Brown ran unopposed. Lopez represents sections of South and West Modesto. Brown represents north and northeast Modesto.
This seven-member body oversees city schools’ policies, curricula, budget, and staffing. Modesto Superintendent Sara Noguchi said the previous Board was “high functioning” based on her experience, which spans four different Board terms.
She said she would “welcome” the results, regardless of the outcome.
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 9:44 PM.
