Phone calls, emails and personal visits marked the final day before the election Monday as Kevin Hill and Heather Losurdo sought to sway voters in their critical Wake County Board of Education race.
Hill, the incumbent and a Democrat, is facing Losurdo in a District 3 runoff Tiuesday. Hill was 51 votes short in October of winning outright, and both sides have pushed hard to gain voters.
The Wake board is officially nonpartisan, but has become more contentious in recent years. There are now four Democrats and four Republicans scheduled to be on the board, with this race deciding who has control.
Losurdo pushed that she will be a part of the changes brought in by the current board and Superintendent Tony Tata.
“I can be a part of moving forward, not just a part of the past,” Losurdo said.
Losurdo also has emphasized her experience as a parent.
Hill, meanwhile, has stressed his experience as a principal and educator, and argued that is essential on the board. He said Wake County will lose $36 million in stimulus money, and the county faces tough budget choices.
“The budget’s going to be critical,” he said.
Hill received 49.7 percent of the first vote and Losurdo 39.9. Losurdo had the right to call for a runoff after Hill did not receive 50 percent of the votes.
Losurdo has found herself under attack from the liberal advocacy group Progress NC, which has questioned her past work record. She defended her work record Friday, and her former boss at First Union, Donald Senior, told NBC-17 that her employment record was accurate.
However, when NBC-17 asked Progress NC executive director Gerrick Brenner to respond, he said her story remained “fishy.” He questioned whether an employee with no college degree and a bankruptcy in her background could really have had the responsibility at First Union that she claimed.
District 3 is located in the northern part of Wake County and is the only school board district up for election Tuesday. Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
NBC17.com will post updates live throughout Tuesday night
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