Newcomers Swept Into ABC School Board Seats

H. Ernie Nishii and Olga Rios won their respective races.

Wednesday Nov. 8, 2017 8:20 a.m.

By Brian Hews

In a stunning rebuke by voters, embattled ABCUSD Area 3 incumbent Lynda Johnson lost her seat to newcomer H. Ernie Nishii. With 100% of the precincts reporting, the final tally for Area 3 was (only 1 seat open) :

Ernie Nishii – 562

Lynda Johnson – 395

Armin Reyes – 355

Danny Fierro – 129

Incumbent Lynda Johnson.

Voter turnout was extremely low at around 11%.

In ABCUSD Area 6, Olga Rios beat out long-time educator and former Board member Louise Dodsen. With 100% of the precincts reporting, the final tally for Area 6 was (only 1 seat open) :

Olga Rios – 232

Louise Dodsen – 126

Voter turnout was extremely low at around 10%.

A large majority of the votes were sent in, also called “vote by mail.”

Olga Rios told HMG-CN this morning, “I am so excited with the results of this election. I look forward to serving the students and community of ABC Unified. I want to thank my family, my friends, my supporters and most of all the voters. We did it!”

Nishii was unavailable for comment as of cyber-publication, ” I am in a meeting I will call later,” Nishii texted.