School board runoff: Wilson vs. Boone

An runoff will be needed to determine who will hold Seat No. 5 on the Pawhuska Board of Education.

In the annual school election Tuesday, 26 votes separated the two top finishers — Patricia Wilson and Tom Boone, Jr. — who now will advance to an April 7 runoff. The difference in vote totals represented approximately 5 1/2 percent of the ballots cast.

One of two challengers in the race, Wilson emerged with slightly more than 50 percent of the votes. Her total ballot-count of 239 surpassed the 213 (or 44.8 percent) garnered by the incumbent.

Boone has held the seat since 2010 when he ousted the previous Seat 5 incumbent in a race that also went to a runoff.

A relatively light turnout resulted in only 475 ballots being cast. The third candidate in the race, Matthew Gray, received 23 votes — which was slightly less than 5 percent of the total.