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Erin Moravitz joins Omerza, Coombe in victory on Tuesday
With only two contenders for three available seats, Ely’s school board race didn’t have much in the way of drama.
But it was unique, with first-time candidate Erin Moravitz gaining victory as a write-in candidate.
Incumbents Tom Omerza and Hollee Coombe, the only candidates to file during the summer and have their names on the ballot, cruised to victory with 2,329 and 1,982 votes, respectively.
They won four-year terms on Tuesday as did Moravitz, who collected the lion’s share of the 597 write-in votes cast, including 357 in the city of Ely alone.
Moravitz, a 1998 Ely High School graduate, brings many ties to the district and said in the wake of her win that she’s looking forward to joining the board.
“I love this community, I love our small town and I love our school and I think it would be awesome to be part of it,” said Moravitz.
Moravitz had previously pondered filing for school board and jumped in as a write-in candidate, with some encouragement, after filings put only two people in the race.
“I’ve had encouragement from family and friends and it’s been pretty awesome in our community, running into people who have let me know they are voting for me,” said Moravitz. “I’ve thought about it in the past, and I really give a lot to my family and friends encouraging me and telling me I’d be a great fit.” Coombe is completing her first term on the board, a period that included changes in administration, the completion of a major facility project and the passing of longtime board chair Ray Marsnik.
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is we really do have a good school community,” said Coombe. “We have a strong board, and just showed that with the passing of Ray, we were able to shuffle things around and get things on track and honor his legacy moving forward.”
Coombe said Marsnik leaves “big shoes to fill but I think we’ll work hard to make him proud going forward.”
Marsnik’s term was up at the end of the year, and Moravitz will take his spot, joining Omerza, Coombe, Rochelle Sjoberg, Jen Westlund, and Tony Colarich.
At least once in recent history, Ely district voters elected a write-in candidate to the school board.
That was in 2003 when write-in candidate Keith Turner unseated incumbent Walt Gessler in a campaign that was decided by a recount.
This year’s school board race is in sharp contrast to two years ago, when on the heels of controversial issues that arose during the Covid-19 pandemic, nine candidates chased four board positions.
