The Monterey County Office of Education had four out of seven seats up for election on Nov. 3: Areas 1, 3, 6 and 7, with three of those races contested.
Early election results show that MCOE will have two new board members next year.
Incumbent Heather Owen in Area 3 and Robert Ocampo in Area 7 are dominating their races, each with 67 percent of the vote as of Wednesday morning, Nov. 4.
Their opponents, Rick Diaz Jr., a North Monterey County Unified School District trustee, and Shanice Virrueta, a longtime coach and mentor who works at United Way Monterey County, trail with 33 percent of the vote each.
In Area 1, Rita Patel, a Carmel Unified School District trustee, secured 60 percent, or 10,326 votes, against Megan Whilden, a retired nonprofit director and volunteer organizer, as of Nov. 4.
Two incumbents—Annette Yee Steck in Carmel’s Area 1 and Sandra Ocampo of Salinas in Area 7—didn’t seek reelection. Ocampo is in a close race against Ulises Gonzalez Reyes to represent Area 2 on the board of Alisal Union School District , where she leads by two votes with 716 over Reyes' 714 votes.
UPDATE: As of an updated report from the Elections Department on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 5, Reyes is leading by 21 votes.
For MCOE Area 6, incumbent Mary Claypool in Seaside’s Area 6 ran uncontested and will be reappointed to her seat.
The board will join a new Superintendent of Schools, Dan Burns, who was elected in the June primary .