BENTONVILLE — Willie Cowgur retained his seat on the Bentonville School Board and Travis Riggs regained his in Tuesday’s school elections.
Riggs, who resigned his seat a year ago, defeated Lisa Clark, whom the board appointed to replace him in the Zone 5 position. Riggs got 165 votes (60 percent) to Clark’s 110 votes (40 percent), according to unofficial results.
Riggs, 51, served on the board from 2002 until September 2013. He had been board president when he resigned. He said Tuesday he’s interested in being board president again. Board members will vote on president, vice president and secretary positions next month.
In the months following his resignation, he made clear he wasn’t happy with the way some board members were conducting themselves, saying they were micromanaging the School District’s administration.
Riggs was at the Benton County Election Commission on Tuesday night when the results in his race were posted. He got hugs from a couple of his campaign supporters. He said he was surprised by the margin by which he won.
“I really thought it would be 51-49 (percent),” he said. “(Clark) campaigned really hard.”
Clark, 48, is youth ministry director at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Bentonville and a former instructional assistant at R.E. Baker Elementary School. She didn’t return a phone message seeking comment late Tuesday.
In the Zone 4 race, Willie Cowgur got 342 votes (72 percent) to Kirsten Johnston’s 131 votes (28 percent). Cowgur, 37, is the board’s longest-serving member. He has served since 2011.
“I’m very appreciative of the support I’ve had from the community through this whole campaign and election process,” Cowgur said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do within the district, so I’m looking forward to serving the kids and the community over the next five years.”
Johnston, 45, is a stay-at-home mother of eight. This was her first bid for an elected office.
One of the things she had hoped to accomplish was to reduce the number of buildings students must transition through during their years in the district. She said Tuesday she didn’t regret running for the board.
“I think I could’ve just sat back and let things happen, but I’m grateful for the experience I had,” Johnston said. “I don’t regret the opportunity I had to meet a lot of people, to go to the PTO meetings and interact with a lot of people who spend a lot of energy making our schools better.”
Johnston added she appreciated Cowgur was “respectful and gracious” to her throughout the campaign.
About the race between Clark and Riggs, Cowgur said either one would have made a good board member. He declined to comment further.
The four candidates combined to pour more than $11,000 into their campaigns, according to campaign finance reports the candidates were required to file last week. They reported a combined $7,499 in donations; the rest of the money spent was their own. Final campaign finance reports are due Oct. 30.