Sentinel staff report–
In a statement following the latest vote count update Tuesday afternoon, candidate Moe Sarama conceded in his bid for a seat on the San Juan Unified School District’s governing board.
“We didn’t prevail, but it’s clear that voters resonated with our message of #SafetyAboveAll,” said Sarama in his Nov. 14 update on social media.
The latest vote count released by county officials on Nov. 14 showed just 10 more votes had been counted since the prior update on Nov. 9, with the estimated amount of ballots remaining to be counted being less than 20. Out of the 5,245 votes counted so far, 54% went to Perez and 46% went to Sarama.
The special election was held on Nov. 7 to fill the Area 7 vacancy on the school district’s governing board left by the late Steve Miller, who passed away earlier this year while serving in office.
As previously reported, Perez had been endorsed by Mayor Tim Schaefer and the Sacramento County Republican Party, while Sarama had the backing of the San Juan Teachers Association and had been endorsed by Citrus Heights Councilwoman Porsche Middleton as well as the Democratic Party of Sacramento County.
Perez on Facebook last week accepted victory in the race and said his focus “will be to ensure that our kids are safe when they are at school and that we are always striving to deliver the best education possible.”
Sarama said he hasn’t given up on involvement with the school district and said of his campaign: “We are here to stay, we just got louder.“
