School Board: Whaley to face runoff vote against undetermined foe
The incumbent on the School Board failed to get the majority of the vote and will run against the second-highest vote-getter.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published September 1, 2004
Marge Whaley has two more months to go before she will know whether she can remain in the seat she has held for 12 years.
Though she got the most votes Tuesday for Pasco's District 2 School Board seat, she didn't capture the majority needed to win. That means she faces a Nov. 2 runoff against the second-highest vote-getter.
Challengers Ryan O'Reilly and Patricia Murphy were locked in a dead heat Tuesday evening with nearly 31 percent of the vote apiece. The results likely will trigger a recount, and there still were some absentee ballots to be counted Tuesday night.
"I didn't think I would take 51 percent. I really didn't," Whaley, 63, said from her Land O'Lakes home.
The only question, she said, was who would be her opponent: "Do you have O'Reilly, who is a (local GOP leader) Bill Bunting clone, or Pat Murphy, who is oblivious to the district?"
Whaley oversaw student health services in Pasco schools for 16 years before retiring and running for School Board in 1992. She said she hopes to remain aboard another four years to provide stability to a district in flux.
O'Reilly held a 74-vote lead over Murphy with barely a handful of precincts out as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The 23-year-old made his debut in local politics earlier this year when he criticized the need for the Penny for Pasco sales tax. Since signing up for the School Board run, the Wesley Chapel father of one pushed for stricter discipline, better nutrition and more vocational educational options for students.
Murphy, 35, held out hope as the results trickled in.
"It's hard to tell, it's so close," Murphy said. "We're rooting!"
The five-year Land O'Lakes resident had proposed applying 10 percent of the $32,906 annual School Board member salary back to the schools. She also wanted a greater emphasis on school discipline.
School Board members serve four-year terms. They are responsible for setting policy and hiring staff.
