1 seat contested in Muscogee County School District board election. See results here
Four seats on the nine-member Muscogee County School District board were up for election Tuesday in Columbus, but just one of them was a contest.
Only one challenger ran against the MCSD board incumbents for the next four-year terms, starting in January. And the incumbent appears to have won that campaign as well.
The race for the board’s District 7 seat was between incumbent Patricia “Pat” Frey and challenger Laketha Ashe.
With all Muscogee precincts reporting, Frey received 571 votes (54%) to 485 (46%) for Ashe, according to unofficial results on the Georgia Secretary of State’s website.
Muscogee County elections director Nancy Boren told the Ledger-Enquirer the countywide report includes all votes except less than 100 provisional and military ballots that have until the close of business Friday to be submitted with the required information.
Frey is vice president for United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley. Ashe is self-employed, running fashion design company Justmyne and printing company As He Leads.
“I am humbled and honored,” Frey told the Ledger-Enquirer in a text message when asked for her reaction to being re-elected.
As for the key to her victory, Frey said, “If I had to say one thing, I would say it’s my continuous community engagement.”
Frey and Ashe competed for District 7 votes last year as well. That’s because they ran against each other in a special election to fill the seat vacated by Cathy Williams, who resigned to join the 14-member Georgia Department of Transportation Board. Williams received the most votes for the appointment among the 24 state legislators whose districts are in or contiguous to the 2nd Congressional District.
Frey defeated Ashe by only two votes, 147-145. The margin was so close, both candidates requested a recount, and the final tally remained the same.
The other three MCSD board seats in this nonpartisan election had incumbents without opposition. They are:
Pat Hugley Green of District 1. Green, the board’s chairwoman, is a licensed insurance agent at the Carolyn Hugley State Farm Insurance Agency. Carolyn Hugley, a representative in the Georgia Legislature, is Green’s sister-in-law, married to Green’s brother, City Manager Isaiah Hugley.
Vanessa Jackson of District 3. Jackson is director of the Childcare Network center on Hamilton Road.
Laurie McRae of District 5. McRae, the board’s vice chairwoman, is an attorney and family office adviser at financial services company Blue Trust.
