Wilson apparent winner of school board seat

Local school board candidate Patricia Wilson is the apparent winner from Tuesday’s close race for a seat on the Pawhuska Board of Education.

In the election for the board’s Post No. 5, Wilson received a total of 239 votes — which was 26 more than the 213 garnered by the incumbent, Thomas Boone, Jr. A third candidate, Matthew Gray, was selected on 23 ballots.

Officials initially indicated there would be an April runoff election between the top two finishers. However, it later was determined that no runoff is required because the leading candidate’s vote total represented 50.3 percent of the 475 ballots cast. Wilson reportedly received one vote more than necessary for an outright victory.

Wilson is expected to be declared as the winner of the school board race when the final results are certified Friday evening by the Osage County Election Board. The 26-vote decision would give her a victory margin of approximately 5 1/2 percent.

Boone, who also served as school board clerk, has held the seat since 2010 when he defeated the previous incumbent in a runoff.