Blaxberg Takes Lead: Pinellas County School Board Election Results

Updated: Tuesday, 11:34 p.m.

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Katie Blaxberg has taken the lead in the Pinellas County School Board District 5 run-off race Tuesday night.

With all precincts reporting their results as of 9:20 p.m., Blaxberg won 52.02 percent of the votes, while her opponent, Stacy Geier, earned 47.98 percent, unofficial results from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections show.

"I am at a loss for words but I am filled with a remarkable amount of gratitude. This campaign was powered by community members with a shared desire to work collectively. All your support, faith and commitment leaves me humbled," Blaxberg wrote in a Tuesday night Facebook post. "Tonight I want to say thank you to my neighbors for giving me the opportunity to serve. Tomorrow, I will get to work."

Most Florida polling places, including those in Pinellas County, closed at 7 p.m. EST on Tuesday, while some counties in the Panhandle are open until 8 p.m. EST because they are in the Central time zone.

For full coverage of the election in Florida, go here.

School board races are nonpartisan. The candidates are not running with political parties.

Incumbents Laura Hine and Eileen M. Long bested Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed challengers in two Pinellas County School Board races in the Aug. 20 primary elections.

Moms for Liberty-aligned candidates, all endorsed by DeSantis, were outpaced in all three school board races up for grabs in the primary elections, according to Florida Politics.

Current board chair Hine, who sought re-election in District 1, earned about 110,000 votes, while her challenger, Danielle Marolf received about 48,000 votes, according to the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections website.

In the District 4 primary, Long earned nearly 24,700 votes compared to her challenger, Erika Picard, who received nearly 20,700.

In the District 5 primary, Geier received about 12,800 votes. Meanwhile, Blaxberg earned nearly 12,000 votes while a third candidate, Brad DeCorte, earned about 9,800 votes.

The top two vote-getters, Geier and Moms for Liberty-backed Blaxberg, automatically advanced to a run-off in the general election.