A high school teacher, a former school board president, and a Tea Party activist were among the winning candidates in the September 14 primary elections for school board; the first school board elections ever to be held in Harford County.

In the non-partisan, in-district school board races, primary voters in three Harford council districts narrowed down the candidates to the top two vote-getters in each district on Tuesday. The primary winners will face off in the general election on November 2, 2010. Elections in the three remaining Harford council districts will begin in 2014.

Results from the September 14 primary are still unofficial, with absentee and provisional ballot counts to be finalized late next week.

District A Edgewood/Joppatowne

Bob Frisch was a clear winner. The Baltimore County Public School teacher led second place Jansen Robinson by a margin of more than two to one. Frisch and Robinson will compete in the general election to represent Edgewood and Joppatowne on the school board.

“I am wowed to say the least,” Frisch said, adding that he was being cautious about the general election and planned to be outdoors on Wednesday afternoon, waving a big ‘thank you’ sign to voters.

Robinson, chairman of the Edgewood Community Council, said that he started late in campaigning, but was satisfied with the primary results, “I accomplished what I set out to accomplish.”

Pastor Tony McDonald came in third, despite dropping out of the race in mid- August and throwing his support behind Robinson. McDonald withdrew too late to have his name removed from the ballot, and edged out Jerome Foster, who finished last.

District B Fallston/Abingdon

Ron Eaton, a former president of the Harford County Board of Education, was the top vote-getter. Attorney Cassandra Beverley came in a close second.

Eaton, who was an appointed school board member from 1985 to 1996, said after his primary victory, “It’s not a right, it’s a privilege to be in public service.”

Cassandra Beverley said she was somewhat surprised, but especially pleased by the support she received from the Abingdon community where she lives.

Eaton and Beverley are likely to be on the Fallston/Abingdon ballot in November. But third place Tom Myers, who trails Beverley by 131 votes, told The Dagger that he planned to wait for absentee and provisional ballots to be counted. “Tom Myers is not throwing in the towel yet”, Myers said.

William Street and Greg Seltzer came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

District D North Harford

An activist in the tea party group Campaign for Liberty, Rick Grambo posted a solid win. Grambo was followed in the vote count by stay-at-home mom Lorrie Warfield. Grambo and Warfield will vie to represent North Harford in the general election.

Grambo told The Dagger, “I’m really happy to see that people are receiving my message.”

A delighted Warfield said, “It’s amazing to me that a no-name farm girl from Norrisville can make it this far.” She added that she was thankful to her supporters and to all the other candidates.

Joseph Hau came in third in the district, followed by Martha Dauphinais and Glenn A. Miller, Sr.

Official Results

On Thursday, September 16 at 10:00 a.m., the first set of absentee ballots will be counted at the Board of Elections office in Forest Hill. On September 22, provisional ballots and absentee ballots received on or after Election Day will be counted and added to the totals. The official primary results will be certified on September 24, 2010.

The Harford County Board of Elections reported the following election night vote counts: (Note: The three missing “precincts” in each race are the upcoming absentee and provisional vote counts.)