By DAVID DUPONT and
JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Provisional ballots and absentee ballots that arrived after Election Day changed the outcome of the Bowling Green Board of Education results.
After being certified this morning (11-20-23) by the county Board of Elections, the results had Peggy Thompson winning a seat on the board.
She received 3,859 votes, second only to incumbent Tracy Hovest, with 3,999.
In third place was Howard “Ardy” Gonyer with 3,806, and Steve Bateson was bumped to fourth place with 3,782 votes. The top three vote getters will be seated on the school board.
Because the difference between Gonyer and Bateson of just 24 votes, an automatic recount has been scheduled for next Monday (Nov. 27).
After the official vote count was certified this morning, Thompson was pleased to finally win.
“I feel very blessed,” she said. This was Thompson’s fourth attempt for a school board seat – three times on the ballot and one attempt to fill a seat being vacated by a member.
Thompson was the only candidate for Bowling Green Board of Education to openly oppose the bond issue for a new high school. She wasn’t shy about her stance, and had signs against the bond issue in her yard.
This time around, she opposed the levy because it relied solely on property taxes. The time before, she opposed the levy – which was split between property and income taxes – because of a lack of transparency by the district, she said.
But on Monday, Thompson said she won’t have a problem working on the new high school project.
“This is a democracy. The voters went for it,” she said, promising to make sure the project is fiscally responsible.
Thompson was also the only school board candidate fully supportive of the Life Wise Academy program, which transports students off school grounds during the school day for Christian teachings.
“I’m very in favor of Life Wise,” she said during her campaign. “There’s only good things. It’s a good program. It’s important. It’s Christian based – it’s morals based.”
On Monday, Thompson repeated that support, and said she would like the school board to study the issue.
“It’s something I’m hoping we can explain to people so they understand it,” she said.
Though her previous efforts failed, Thompson said the district needs someone like her on the board. She believes her 32 years as an accounts payable clerk with the school district gives her some needed expertise.
“I’ve been from the inside out,” she said.
“I’m a numbers person,” she said, stressing the need for more fiscal transparency from the district. “I want to know where my money’s going.”
When her term starts in January, Thompson said her priorities will be to learn her duties and make herself available to school district residents. “I really want to be visible and accessible to people.”
The official vote count Monday morning resulted in Bateson being bumped from third to fourth place. He said he realized the race was so close that he might lose his potential spot on the board. It’s too early to decide, but Bateson said he will have to evaluate another run for a board seat.
“I would never say never to run again,” he said Monday afternoon.
The 24 votes between third and fourth place candidates is within the margin requiring a mandatory recount. Anything fewer than 46 votes would have triggered the recount, said Terry Burton, of the Board of Elections.
Gonyer said that the process has been a “nail-biter,” but now that all the provisional ballots are tallied, he’s confident that he’ll prevail in the recount.
[RELATED: Tight race: Hovest, Bateson and Gonyer are top vote getters for school board seats]
