CEDARVILLE -- Voters came together to elect someone new to a five-year, unpaid term in the School Board's position 2 seat Tuesday.
Tracy Mankins received 156 votes (about 82%) while Laura Willis received 34 votes (about 18%), according to final but unofficial results provided by Bill Coleman, chairman of the Crawford County Election Commission.
Rodney Dickens, who is also president of the School Board, currently occupies the position 2 seat, according to the Cedarville School District.
Mankins, 42, said Tuesday night she was "very excited and humbled" by the support she received during the election.
"It means for me that I'll be happy to serve the community in the role of School Board," Mankins said.
Mankins previously told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette her main goal if she were elected would be to help the district get everything it needs, especially for the principals and students. She expressed interest in helping encourage growth and improvement in the students' education and ensuring they know of all the opportunities they have through the district. Mankins would also like to determine how the School District can recruit and retain residents, as well as increase enrollment.
Willis, 47, said she didn't feel like she had been "defeated" despite the election's conclusion, and thanked those who supported her.
"The election was about helping the children in our district," Willis said.
Mankins works as director of inspections for the Arkansas Air National Guard. She earned a bachelor's degree in environmental studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2004.
Mankins has two daughters -- a third-grader and a first-grader -- in the Cedarville School District, as well as a son in pre-kindergarten. She has lived in the Cedarville School District for about seven years.
Willis is finance and insurance director for Fort Smith Harley-Davidson. She graduated from Cedarville High School in 1992.
Among Willis' three children, her youngest, a 16-year-old son, is a junior at Cedarville High School. Willis has lived in the School District intermittently since 1987, but moved back full time in 2020.
Both candidates have said they don't have any previous political experience.