- Hunter Miller will face incumbent Janine Plavac in the November runoff for the District 1 school board seat after receiving 46% of the primary votes.
- Sarah Rockwell was reelected to the District 3 seat with 57% of votes, focusing on academic excellence, operations, and fiscal responsibility.
- Jancie Vinson ran unopposed and secured the District 5 seat, marking her third successful school board campaign attempt.
One School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) member is headed to a runoff election in November while another has kept her seat, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary election.
Hunter Miller, a math teacher at Howard W. Bishop Middle School, will face Janine Plavac in the General Election for the District 1 seat after receiving 46% (19,044) and 36% (14,736) of the 41,515 votes, respectively.
Gabriel Lopez, the third challenger in the District 1 race, received 19% (7,735) of the 41,515 votes.
While speaking at a Democratic Election Watch Party at Heartwood Soundstage in Gainesville on Tuesday night, Miller expressed his appreciation for his campaign team, volunteers and partner for their support leading up to the primary election.
Miller also shared his intention to get Plavac – a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee – off the school board. Plavac, the current holder of the District 5 seat, was appointed to the SBAC in April 2025 to fill the vacancy of Kay Abbitt, who resigned in December 2024.
As he closed his remarks, Miller said he looks forward to spending the next three months “knocking on doors and making things happen.”
In a text message to Mainstreet on Tuesday night, Plavac said she looks forward to the November election.
“I look forward to the runoff in November,” she said. “In the meantime, I will continue to be an advocate for all the teachers, students and parents, along with the staff of ACPS [Alachua County Public Schools], as I have a lot of school board business that needs to be addressed. And I will continue to put all my efforts into accomplishing the tasks ahead.”
Meanwhile, another SBAC member, Sarah Rockwell, was reelected to the District 3 seat after defeating challenger Gregory E. Pelham Sr. Rockwell won with 57% (23,729)of the 41,414 votes.
Having served on the board since 2022, Rockwell’s reelection platform centered on three core priorities: academic excellence, strategic operations and fiscal responsibility.
Rockwell was also present at the election watch party and addressed attendees following her victory. She thanked her husband, children, campaign team and interns, as well as volunteers and donors for their support.
Rockwell also expressed her appreciation to her fellow board members, Thomas Vu and Tina Certain, who were also present at the watch party.
“These last four years have been a whirlwind,” Rockwell said. “At times, it’s been hard and stressful, and I had to make a lot of hard decisions. And some of them I thought would really hurt my chances of being reelected, and I made them anyway, knowing that they were the right thing to do, and knowing that the cost of that could be losing tonight. And yet, here I am. I’m so thankful to live in a community that understands that making changes and making progress means sometimes doing hard things and doing new things and being uncomfortable.”
Rockwell added that she’s grateful to live in a town that also “values public education and sees the work that we’re trying to accomplish on this school board.”
District 5
Jancie Vinson, a retired probation supervisor for the Florida Department of Corrections, ran unopposed for District 5 and secured her seat on the SBAC. This was Vinson’s third time running for school board after unsuccessful campaigns in 2010 and 2014.
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.
I would assume by the election results, that Gainesville does not wish for change and betterment. Sarah Rockwell and Tina Certain are still in public office after they proved their unprofessionalism last year. Pelham would have made a difference! The battle is still on for District 1 and I hope common sense prevails in November.
A 70 year old minister with zero public education system experience would not have made a a positive difference. Rockwell was the correct choice.
Wrong again, LF. You folks on the communist side of the spectrum are so filled with blind hate, you can’t think rationally any longer. You worship on the alter of Saul Alinsky and are willing to sacrifice our children on that alter.
Many students in Alachua County graduate not being able to find a state capital or balance a checkbook using simple math, but that’s OK with you as long as political seats are held by Demoscats.
Rockwell is a perfect example of local politicians who serve the left and ignore the right or worse, celebrate the death of another human being.
How sick!
Do you hold the same standard you apparently hold against Rockwell against trump who rejoiced with his comments at the death of Robert Mueller??
If you don’t then you are the sick one.
Let me make myself clear enough so that even a Democrat can understand the words.
Trump should not have said what he did about Mueller. Mueller will be judged by God. End of story.
My standards never deviate from one moment to the next. I leave that hypocrisy to you and your comrades.
Well at least we both agree that Donald Trump is a sick person by your own definition.
No one gave you any authority to speak for me. I do not think Trump is a sick person, nor did I ever say that Rockwell is a sick person. Your classic Democrat attempt to gaslight me and the readers of these words has failed in a most miserable fashion.
To review, what I said was that Rockwell has shown that she has a most obvious bias in favor of the socialist agenda and an equal bias against conservatives, as I suspect you do. Therefore it is logical to make the assumption that Rockwell will not serve students equally. It is also logical to assume that Rockwell will champion a socialist agenda for indoctrination rather than a useful agenda for an education that will prepare students for the future.
Again, celebrating the death of a conservative person, solely because he was conservative, highlights a lack of compassion if nothing else.
One last note. We agree on nothing. That you could even presume we do, even in the context of your oafish reply is laughable.
Have a nice day.
Everyone can see what you posted about Rockwell but you don’t hold that same standard against trump. That makes you a hypocrite.
“celebrate the death of another human being.
How sick!”
Your comments about Rockwell are only about your political views and bias against her. You provide no examples of anything job specific as a school board member that makes her unqualified.
Thank you for your correct comment
He is not sick at all he is merely pointing out the reality of education under this school board. This isn’t a Republican or democratic issue it is about the woke incompetent leadership elected to our school board in knee jerk political correctness every year. There is a disaster in Alachua country around d education that it totally ignored by the ideological driven electorate.
No he speaks the plain facts
Thank you for stating to absolute reality of education in Alachua county
I love how we elect (reelect) people whi can not do the job right
I saw Sarah Rockwell’s face without mask for the 1st time. If she could have it her way lockdowns still would be in effect.
You could not be more correct Alexa. The Alachua County Public School district is nothing less than layer after layer of decisions that prepare our students for painting socialists slogans on banners, not for being a productive part of society.
I know the inner workings of the district very well, I assure you.
If you look at quantitative data, I. E., standardized test scores and school grades as well as the achievement gaps, you will see that the academic performance of our students in this county has declined under Rockwell and Certain. Teacher pay has remained stagnant at the bottom third of the state, while superintendent pay has increased to the of the highest for similarly sized counties. Alachua County now has the only F public school in the state.
The standards of public education have plummeted across this state because the GOP has systematically stolen tax payer money for the past 30 years to fund private schools and religious charter schools, all while pointing at the ‘failings’ of public school. Blaming it on the school board is just as ridiculous as continuing to vote for state legislators that are filling their own pockets with YOUR money.
Performance in Alachua county has gone down. Eight years ago. (when Tina Certain was first elected), our county was in the top 1/3 of schools in the state. Now we are in the bottom 1/3. The leadership in this county has allowed us to drop relative to other districts. If there was any re- direction of funds, it affected all districts more or less the same. Our district has neglected the lowest performing students in this county, and we now have the only F school in the state. You can find the data at the Fl Dept of Education website.
The leadership and prevailing political ideology in Gainesville operate on slogans and narratives not facts. They hate facts.