vanZee Surges Ahead Of Petersen In SRVUSD Board Race

DANVILLE, CA — Jesse vanZee has leapfrogged over Michelle Petersen in the race to represent San Ramon Valley Unified School District’s Area 1, according to new totals released Friday afternoon. The seat was left vacant after current SRVUSD Board President Ken Mintz announced he would not run for re-election.

vanZee, a healthcare executive and president of the Montair Elementary School Dads’ Club, now leads Petersen 5,991 to 5,748 votes, or 42.23-40.46 percent.

A third candidate, Jerome Pandell, former chair of the SRVUSD Facilities Oversight & Advisory Committee, trails with 2,452 votes, or 17.28 percent.

Initial election night returns showed Petersen, a former firefighter and Alamo Elementary School PTA president, leading by a narrow margin. By the end of Tuesday, vanZee, a healthcare executive and president of the Montair Elementary School Dads’ Club, was leading Petersen by just 23 votes. New totals released Thursday, Nov. 10 showed Petersen up again 4,654-4,568. However, vanZee was up again after new totals were released Wednesday that showed him winning by 249 votes. Friday's totals only record a few dozen more votes each.

vanZee and Petersen clashed on several issues, notably parental control over hot-button issues. vanZee said in a mailer ahead of the election that he was campaigning against “woke education,” “gender theory” and “anti-American education.” He also said in a September candidate forum that he would “oppose any sort of teaching that teaches students they are oppressed or oppressors.”

vanZee all but declared victory in a Wednesday Facebook post.

"WOW. BIG UPDATE: With over 99% of the ballots counted for area 1, we are up by 249 votes. This tally is our largest lead yet, and statistically, it is unsurmountable. The results will get finalized at the end of November, but it looks like we did it!!!! Thank you to everyone, and a big congrats to my team of volunteers.

Petersen said that she believes that vanZee will likely win because Pandell split the vote, since the two candidates shared similar platforms of following state and county education guidelines, and increased support for student mental health.

"Jesse vanZee won because Jerome Pandell and I split the vote. Period," Petersen told DanvilleSanRamon. "If you look at my votes combined with Jerome Pandell who shares a similar platform, it shows great unity and support for an overwhelming majority of this district."