All incumbents are likely to retain their seats on the Wake school board

All five incumbents on the Wake County Board of Education retained their seats.

Wing Ng appears poised to serve a second term in the District Three seat after a close race against newcomer Jordyne Blaise.

Ng is a 56-year-old doctor and registered Republican – one of two members of the majority-Democratic school board. Since 2022, he has represented District Three, which stretches from northern Raleigh through Wake Forest to the tip of Wake County. During this time, he advocated for special education reform, promoted the “parental rights” movement, and expressed support for expensive schooling. She criticized federal Title IX protections for LGBTQ students in public schools and attempted to to block a scholarship for various books. He campaigned for re-election alongside far-right candidates for governor and state public education administrator Mark Robinson and Michele Morrow.

Blaise, a leadership consultant and former teacher, worked to improve educational equity and increase employee salaries. She lost to Ng by a razor-thin margin of just about one point.

Toshiba Rice retains her fourth district school board seat. She defeated challengers Sean Callan and Michael T. Williams.

Rice, 50, was appointed to the school board in February after her predecessor, Tara Waters, left to join the Wake County Board of Commissioners. Rice is CEO of a wellness consulting firm in Raleigh and executive director of Track My Steps, a national educational nonprofit dedicated to closing economic and racial achievement gaps. In her first months on the school board, she joined her Democratic colleagues in voting to align the school system with federal Title IX updates that expand protections for LGBTQ students. She also voted against renewing the school system's contract with its school resource officers, citing their unequal treatment of black and brown students. Rice was endorsed by the Wake County Democratic Party and the North Carolina Association of Educators.

The Fourth District race began as a four-way contest between Rice, Callan, Williams and Roberto Morales Vergara, a financial analyst for the city of Raleigh who was endorsed by the Wake County Republican Party. In August, Morales Vergara dropped out of the race, citing his “deep disappointment with the leadership of the Wake GOP” and supporting Rice. His name still appeared on the ballot.

Lynn Edmonds will continue to represent District Five after soundly defeating challenger Ted Hills.

Edmonds, 53, is a Wake County Public Schools parent and former PTA president who was first elected to the school board in 2022. She serves as Outreach Director for Public Schools First NC, a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to public education advocacy, and is an at-large member of the Wake Library Commission.

In her first term on the school board, Edmonds championed the Leandro Plan to fully fund public schools at the state level and voted with the board's six other Democrats to align the school system with new, federally mandated protections for LGBTQ students.

Edmonds' re-election campaign focused on addressing WCPSS staffing shortages by increasing teacher salaries, eliminating racial and socioeconomic disparities in student achievement through equity and inclusion initiatives, and improving school safety.
Edmonds won comfortably against Hills, her Republican-backed opponent. Hills is an IT expert who – according to previous reports from the News and Observer— decided to run after receiving an email from far-right candidate for state Superintendent of Public Education Michele Morrow saying there was no conservative candidate to challenge Edmonds. During his campaign, Hills expressed support for HB 10, the state bill that would provide $500 million for private school vouchers, which Edmonds strongly opposes. He also said he supports installing gun detectors in every public school and opposes federal Title IX protections for LGBTQ students.

Sam Hershey will serve a second term on the Wake County Board of Education, representing District Six, which covers northern Raleigh.

Hershey, 47, is a Wake County Public Schools parent and former volunteer. During his first two years on the school board, he expressed strong opposition to proposed book bans and school voucher programs that would divert public funds from public schools to private schools. He also spoke about the importance of complying with the Biden administration's Title IX updates, which create additional protections for LGBTQ students. Hershey ran for re-election with the goal of strengthening academic performance, improving school system facilities and eliminating staffing shortages.

Although school board elections are officially nonpartisan, the District 6 race (like most other contests this year) featured one Democrat and one Republican running on partisan platforms. Hershey is a registered Democrat and has been endorsed this cycle by the Wake Democrats, the North Carolina Association of Educators and many prominent local Democrats. His challenger, Josh Points, is a Republican backed by the Wake County GOP and the Carolina Teachers' Alliance, which markets itself as a conservative alternative to NCAE. Hershey defeated Points, a first-time candidate, by a 40-point margin.

Lindsay Mahaffey will serve a fifth term on the Wake County Board of Education, representing the Eighth District, which includes parts of Apex, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina.

Mahaffey, 42, is a former Wake County public school teacher and parent of three children. In her eight years on the school board, she successfully advocated for system-wide staff salary increases, restoring master's salary and opening eight new schools in District 8. She had the support of the North Carolina Association of Educators and the Wake County Democratic Party in this election.

Mahaffey defeated Elizabeth McDuffie, a first-time candidate endorsed by the Wake County Republican Party and the Carolina Teachers' Alliance, which describes itself as a conservative alternative to the NCAE.

Mahaffey received 59 percent of the vote, McDuffie 41 percent.

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