DeSantis-ousted Broward School Board member loses; four new faces join board
With nearly all votes tallied in Broward County, Donna Korn, the longtime Broward School Board member suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August, lost her race, vanquishing the possibility that DeSantis could suspend Korn a second time and install another ally on the board.
Korn, 51, fell short with about 49% of the vote, while Allen Zeman, 58, prevailed with about 51%, according to the results posted Thursday on the Broward County elections website.
Zeman and Korn ran in a runoff after the Aug. 23 primary, when each garnered about 30% of the vote in a four-person race. In total, four new board members were elected to the nine-person board. The four new members replaced four DeSantis appointees.
READ MORE: DeSantis-suspended Broward School Board member is locked in tight race with challenger
The Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office finished counting Election Day votes from the county’s 355 precincts a little after 3 p.m. Wednesday. Elections officials had counted all early votes Tuesday. The official results website shows that some mail-in ballots still had to be counted as of Thursday, but it didn’t specify how many.
Zeman, however, said he has been celebrating since Tuesday.
“Winning an election amongst two million of your neighbors feels terrific,” said Zeman, who graduated from Broward public schools and has extensive experience in educating military leaders. “We had a celebration planned for Tuesday night because we knew we could at least celebrate that the campaign was over. We didn’t know if we could celebrate a victory too, but at the end we got to have two celebrations Tuesday night.”
Zeman said he will work to transform the Broward school district into an A-rated one by the end of the school year.
New board members replace DeSantis appointees
Zeman won the countywide District 8 seat, which had been held by Kevin Tynan. DeSantis named Tynan to the board in August after suspending Korn and three other board members.
DeSantis suspended them after a statewide grand jury, which he requested the Florida Supreme Court to impanel after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shootings in 2018, recommended their suspensions, citing mismanagement of the district’s $800 million school construction program.
READ MORE: DeSantis suspends four Broward County School Board members, appoints replacements
After suspending the four, DeSantis, a Republican, replaced them with four GOP appointees. Three of the four appointees — Tynan, Ryan Reiter (District 1) and Manuel Serrano (District 6) — were not on the ballot as they were appointed after the ballot deadline. The fourth appointee, board chair Torey Alston (District 2), does not come up for election until 2024.
A fifth DeSantis appointee, Daniel Foganholi (District 5), chose to run for the Coral Spring City Commission instead of the School Board; he lost that election Tuesday. DeSantis appointed Foganholi in April to replace Rosalind Osgood, who stepped down to successfully run for the Florida Senate.
FROM AUGUST: Could DeSantis suspend school board member again?
Despite being suspended, Korn ran for the District 8 seat, campaigning on her experience. She also said DeSantis would not suspend her again, citing how the governor said he would not suspend former Broward Sheriff Scott Israel again if he were elected in 2020. DeSantis suspended Israel in 2019 after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shootings in 2018. Israel lost the election so the issue became moot.
Korn, a former English teacher who is now a commercial real estate broker, served on the board since 2012, including two terms as board chair.
Korn concedes
On Wednesday morning, she conceded her loss in a Facebook post in which she thanked her supporters.
“My passion for public education & child advocacy is part of my core & I look forward to the next chapter of my public service to our community,” she wrote. “I am blessed & again thank Broward County for the opportunity to serve.”
“I wish all the newly elected Board Members great success as they help shape the focus & direction of public schools for our kids,” she added.
Here’s a breakdown of who won the other three seats on Tuesday:
District 1
Rodney “Rod” Velez, a real-estate property manager for Continental Fidelity Corp. whose two sons attend Broward schools, defeated Marie Murray Martin, a reading, film and journalism teacher at Apollo Middle School in Hollywood and the daughter of former board member Ann Murray, one of the four DeSantis suspended.
Velez, 51, secured about 52% of the votes, while Murray Martin, 58, trailed with 48%.
Velez ran on a campaign of more transparency, getting the school construction program on track and expanding student mental health programs.
District 1 includes the cities of Hallandale Beach, Hollywood and Dania Beach.
District 5
Jeff Holness, a former teacher and cousin of Dale Holness, the former mayor of Broward County, won the District 5 seat, which includes northeast Plantation, northwest Fort Lauderdale, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill and east Sunrise.
Holness, 50, bested his opponent, Ruth Carter-Lynch, 69, by a 54-to-46% margin.
He owns the Kumon Math and Reading Center of Coral Springs-South. Carter-Lynch owns a consulting firm.
He ran to improve working conditions for teachers and staff, hone in on school safety and strengthen student mental health initiatives.
District 6
Brenda Fam, an insurance lawyer, bested Steven Julian, a former high school wrestling coach who’s pursuing a master’s degree in clinical mental health, for the District 6 seat, which includes Weston, Davie, Cooper City and south Plantation.
Fam, 61, won with about 52% of the vote while Julian, 33, garnered 48%. During her campaign, she said she would prioritize parental rights and build accountability and transparency in the district.
