ENCINITAS — School board candidate Jodie Williams has maintained her lead over opponent Kelly Friis as of Monday night in the race for Area 2 trustee on the San Dieguito Union High School District board, while Area 4 incumbent Trustee Michael Allman has pulled ahead of challenger Kevin Sabellico in a closely-watched race.
Williams, currently a trustee for the Encinitas Union School District, holds a lead that has steadily grown since last week from 112 to 402 votes over Friis, a financial services executive.
In the Area 4 race — arguably the most contentious school board race in the county — Allman’s lead over Sabellico has decreased from 648 votes last week to 347 votes as of Monday night. The incumbent has approximately 51% of votes compared to Sabellico’s 49%.
Both races remain too close to call, with around 3,800 ballots remaining to be counted.
Allman is running for a second term on the board after a divisive first four years, during which time he was at the center of several controversies, including surviving a recall attempt.
Sabellico, a political consultant and former Carlsbad Planning Commissioner, said he was proud of running a campaign that “took a stand for the integrity of our school board and against extremism and corruption.” He said Monday that the results were moving in the right direction.
“They should be done with the bulk of it this week, and I’m optimistic we’ll have a result by then,” Sabellico said.
The board has been split down partisan lines in recent years, with both Republicans and Democrats fighting for a majority on the board. The Democrats’ current hold on power for the last two years is at risk with the pending departure of current Area 2 trustee Katrina Young.
