BEND, OR -- Bend-La Pine School Board incumbents held on to their seats, in Tuesday's election.

Carrie Douglass was just appointed in March to the Zone 7 seat vacated by Nori Juba. She garnered 58% of the vote in her high-profile race. "I'm very honored to be elected to continue service on the board; definitely humbled by the support that I received from a really large and diverse cross-section of the community. And, I'm glad to see that our community values having steep education experience on the board. You know, the real hard work is ahead." Challenger Troy Reinhart took 30% and Ricardo Olegario received 12%.

Douglass tells KBND News, "I think the fact that I've been a teacher and have worked at all levels within schools and school systems, combined with my business experience; people just seemed really energized by my vision and ideas." She is a managing partner at Education Cities, a national nonprofit that tried to improve education opportunities for low-income students. "The current board really lacks deep education experience," says Douglass. "Although people are committed and smart, education issues are complex and challenging and so I think people were excited about having someone on the board who has done this work in cities across the country and can really bring ideas and real strategies that work in other places, to our community."

Incumbent Cheri Helt won re-election to her Zone 1 seat, with 53% of the vote, over challenger Angela Chisum. And, Stuart Young keeps his Zone 4 position, taking 87% over challenger Richard Asadoorian. Julie Craig ran unopposed for her Zone 2 seat.