By a two-vote margin, Steve Martin will be joining Kristina Mayer on the Nov. 5 general election ballot for the Director District 3 board seat in the Chimacum School District.

In the latest recount, Mayer retained her nearly three-to-one advantage over both her nearest challengers in the Aug. 6 primary elections, while Martin retained the two-vote lead he’d taken over Gary Frogner since the Aug. 20 ballot count.

Mayer received 1,361 votes, while Martin received 504 votes, Frogner received 502 votes and the fourth candidate in the Chimacum School District primary election, Jeremiah “Jeremy” Perrott, received 194 votes, with 27 over-votes and 208 under-votes also counted.

The above numbers are unchanged from the Aug. 20 ballot count, giving Mayer 52.21% of the vote, Martin 19.33%, Frogner 19.26% and Perrott 7.44%, while the 46 write-in votes collectively received 1.76% of the vote.

Out of the 10,376 eligible voters in 17 precincts who were registered to cast ballots in this race, 3,019 actually did so, making for a 29.09% turnout.

Having received more than half the votes cast for Director District 3, Mayer told The Leader she was “very happy” to know she would be on this fall’s ballot, since it puts her “one step closer” to serving the Chimacum community.

“I am keeping my eye on the prize, as they say, to serve the students and families of Chimacum,” Mayer said. “I am committed to a platform of belief in the value of investment in our schools. We can build a brand that families will want to choose, and we can step into our full potential as a community who values our schools.”

In The Leader’s pre-election questionnaire, Mayer described herself as someone who has worked in schools, and as an activist working on Washington school reform measures, since 1993, while Martin described himself as a parent of two sons who currently attend Chimacum schools, giving him “skin in the game,” which he’s taken seriously by attending school board meetings and getting to know both faculty and administrators.

Mayer objected to being asked her position on “no confidence” votes of the Chimacum Education Association and three other unions in Superintendent Rich Thompson, while Martin believes that Chimacum’s teachers “deserve a superintendent with a respectful, transparent and collaborative leadership style,” and he stated, “I respect the teachers’ union for taking a vote on the matter.”

Martin offered no specific opinion on Thompson himself, but he did pledge to encourage more collaboration between the superintendent and the teachers, if he is elected.

The Chimacum School District enrolls about 940 students, employs 120 classified and certificated staff, and operates with a budget of nearly $15 million, or $15,960 per pupil.