By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
JEFFERSON — A flurry of provisional and absentee votes helped push political rookie Debbie Wright to a dramatic victory in the Ashtabula Board of Education race, officials said Tuesday.
The 11th-hour votes helped Wright inch ahead of incumbent Janine Trebuchon-Wertz and grab the third and final available school board seat, Ashtabula County Board of Elections members learned at Tuesday morning’s meeting.
Wright was able to transform a 29-vote deficit into a 24-vote victory. Election board members certified the results of all general election races Tuesday, making Wright’s win official — unless a pending recount says otherwise.
The razor-thin margin between Wright and Trebuchon-Wertz qualifies the race for a free recount, which will be conducted at 10 a.m. Dec. 3, said Richard Hornstein, election-board director. Races where the outcome is less than one-half of 1 percent automatically qualify. Board members will count 5 percent of the total vote by hand and
then run the rest of the ballots through tabulators to verify results, Hornstein said.
Wright, who attended Tuesday’s election-board meeting, was elated with the outcome.
“I’m so shocked,” she said. “I’m so happy.”
On Election Night, Wright had finished fourth in a race where the top three vote-getters earned school board seats. She trailed the third-place candidate, Trebuchon-Wertz, by only 29 votes.
Over the next three weeks, however, provisional ballots and absentee votes that arrived after Election Day proved enough to push Wright into the winner’s circle. The official result gives Weight 3,327 votes compared to 3,303 for Trebuchon-Wertz.
Wright’s total includes 615 absentee votes and 62 provisional votes, compared to 429 and 34, respectively, for Wertz, Hornstein said. For Wright, 128 of her votes were counted after Election Day, while Trebuchon-Wertz added 75 votes.
Provisional ballots are those cast outside a voter’s usual precinct and are tallied only after election-board staff members verify voter registrations. Absentee ballots delivered after Nov. 3 but postmarked prior to Election Day also were added to the tally.
Wright found success in her first-ever attempt at an elected office. She became active in school affairs as a member of a committee that fought to retain the neighborhood-school concept in Ashtabula.
“I figured if I really cared that much, I would have to run for office,” she said Tuesday. “I want to represent the families.”
Wright will not revive the neighborhood-school debate should her victory survive the recount.
“I understand (that issue) has moved on,” she said. “It’s where we’re at now.”
Trebuchon-Wertz, reached for comment, said she will continue to work for the betterment of Ashtabula schools, whether as a board member or volunteer.
“Whatever I can do for my district and the children, I will be happy to do,” she said.
The official results also gave a six-vote victory to a five-year 2-mill replacement levy in Windsor Township. The measure will generate money for the township’s operating expenses. The issue had been deadlocked at 222 votes since Election Day.
