- 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.