Note: This story was updated at 12:20 p.m. to reflect an additional upset in Centennial.

Over and over and over Tuesday night, newcomers with big ideas and big dreams ousted sitting school board members and will take office in July.

Incumbency is a powerful force in politics. But in this year’s May school board elections, newcomers -- nearly all parents or people of color or both -- were able to persuade voters to cast out the old and put fresh faces at the helm of the local school system. That happened in seven school districts in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties.

In some cases, the challenger’s message that the school district isn’t performing well enough for at least some of its students seemed to resonate.

In North Clackamas, Latino parent Orlando Perez defeated incumbent school board member Rein Vaga, who is white. Wednesday morning tallies show Perez won 54 percent of the vote to Vaga’s 46 percent.

In Tigard-Tualatin, lobbyist Ben Bowman seized a seat on the school board, defeating incumbent Terri Burnette and another challenger. Wednesday morning vote tallies showed Bowman captured 52 percent of the votes, compared to Burnette’s 29 percent.

In the Gresham-Barlow district, Latino waitress and former legislative intern Amanda Orozco-Beach beat incumbent John Hartsock. Wednesday morning tallies showed Orozco-Beach captured 55 percent of the vote to Hartsock’s 44 percent. Hartsock is a white project management consultant completing his first term on the board after 12 years on the district budget advisory committee.

In the Reynolds district, where 68 percent of students are people of color, including 42 percent who are Latino, Ana Gonzalez Muñoz unseated incumbent Dane Nickerson, a white bank vice president and father of three Reynolds graduates. Gonzalez Muñoz, a Latina who is associate director of the Portland-based Latino Network with a master’s degree in education, garnered 55 percent of the vote.

In Parkrose, where 67 percent of students are people of color, Ashley Brassea defeated incumbent Dave Carter, while another incumbent board member retained her seat. Brassea, a parent of four who has been active in parent-teacher organizations, captured 48 percent of the vote in a three-way race, according to Wednesday morning tallies.

In Centennial, Amanda Schroeder, a former veterans affairs worker and parent of two Centennial students, ousted incumbent Claudia Andrews, a retired energy sector chief operating officer. Schroeder captured 55 percent of the vote to Andrews’ 44 percent.

In Corbett, one incumbent was defeated Tuesday and another was clinging to a 31-vote lead Wednesday morning. Todd Redfern, a construction project manager and Corbett parent advocating “civility and grace" in the conflict-ridden district, captured 60 percent of the vote in his race against incumbent Marguerite Perry. Sitting board member Katey Kinnear held a slim lead over challenger Tessie Adams, 51 percent to 48 percent.

Incumbent board members did prevail in many places, including Forest Grove, Estacada, Oregon Trail, West Linn-Wilsonville and Portland.

-- Betsy Hammond

betsyhammond@oregonian.com