Three Incumbents Lose in School Dist. 5, One in Dist. 1

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Two Anderson school districts will have new board members following Tuesday’s general election.

Anderson School Dist. 5 will see the biggest changes with the loss of three incumbents.

In Dist. 5, Area 1, Troy L. Haguewood will replace Julie Usherwood. In Dist. 5, Area 7, Tripp Dukes will replace John P. Griffith, and in Dist. 5’s At Large Seat, Bill Thompson will replace Andy Patrick.

Haguewood received 2,445, or 64.91 percent of the vote, while incumbent Usherwood took 1,309 votes, or 34.75 percent. Dukes received 3,088 votes, 69.74 percent, to incumbent Griffith’s 1,328 votes, 29.99 percent.

Bill Thompson won the Dist. 5 At Large Seat with 34.92 percent of the vote, garnering 8,210 votes of the 23,509 cast in the four-person race. Incumbent Patrick finished second with 7,841 votes, 33.35 percent.

Dist. 5 Board Chairman Tommy Price held onto his seat with 2,140 votes to challenger Eddie Mattison’s 895 votes.

Meanwhile, in School Dist. 1, Area 3, John J.C. Neel will replace incumbent Moochie Merritt. Neel took 9,211 votes, 51.25 percent, to Merritt’s 8,712 votes, 48.47 percent.

No other district school board or county school board candidates faced serious challenges in Tuesday’s election.