Election day duty Kelly Owens, far right, who was successful in his bid for Place 5 on the Port Aransas ISD Board of Trustees, spent election day, Saturday, May 8, across the street from the voting booths. With him were, from left, his wife, Beth, family friends Kristi Longanecker and Jana Snow. STAFF PHOTO BY MURRAY JUDSON Two contested races for the Port Aransas ISD Board of Trustees drew 18 percent of the voters in Precinct 19.

No contests developed, and thus no elections were held for city council or the water district.

Election day was Saturday, May 8.

The election saw two new school trustees come on board, with one incumbent ousted.

Kelly Owens was successful in his bid to take the place of Place 5 incumbent Rita Reed. He racked up 327 votes to Reed’s 234.

The race for Place 6 was closer, with only 25 votes separating the candidates. Incumbent Rick Adams retained his position with 294 votes, while challenger Tanya Chambers captured 269 votes.

Michele Lorette, unchallenged in her bid for Place 4, collected 403 votes. She replaces Ken Dunton, who chose not to seek re-election after 10 years of service.

The newly elected trustees will be sworn in at the regular school board meeting today, Thursday, May 13, at 6 p.m.

A total of 568 ballots were cast. Of them, 312 were cast during early voting and 256 were cast on election day.

The total voting amounts to 18 percent of the 3,162 voters registered in Precinct 19, which extends beyond the city limits to encompass the Port Aransas ISD boundaries.

That compares with last year’s election that saw 19 percent of the then 3,075 registered voters casting ballots. Last year, the ballots featured one contested school board race and one contested race for city council.

The city and water district each cancelled elections since none of the positions were contested.

Keith McMullin will be the next mayor, John Price will take McMullin’s Place 2 seat on the council, Glenda Balentine will begin her second term in Place 4, and Steve Lanoux will replace Place 6 Councilman Mike Hall who is leaving because of term limits.

Mayor Claude Brown declined to seek another term because he will take a job in Pearland next month.

Joan Holt and Marc Teller will serve another term on the water board.