Dyer takes third seat on school board
Final tally also confirms wins for Siddiqui, Giles
By Jennifer Broadwater
jbroadwater@patuxent.com
Posted 11/17/08
Allen Dyer will be the newest face on the Howard County Board of Education, following the completion of the absentee ballot count Nov. 14.
Final election results released by the Board of Elections Nov. 14, including all absentee and provisional votes, show that incumbents Janet Siddiqui and Ellen Flynn Giles and newcomer Dyer won the three open seats on the school board in this year’s election.
Dyer, an Ellicott City attorney, said the conclusion of the election was “humbling” — and a relief.
“It’s a relief that the process is over,” he said. “I’m just very excited. I feel very young.”
He said his campaign’s “get-out-and-vote” efforts on Election Day, Nov. 4, might have sealed his victory, noting that his closest competitor, Diane Butler, earned more absentee votes than he did.
“The lead was whittled away and whittled away and whittled away,” he said of watching the absentee results over the past week.
Siddiqui, a Clarksville pediatrician who was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board in 2007, earned the most votes with 62,126 votes, or just under 22 percent of the vote.
Finishing second with 57,266 votes or about 20 percent of the vote was Giles, an editor and analyst from North Laurel who was first elected to the board in 2006.
Dyer won 54,148 votes.
Behind Dyer by 689 votes was Butler, of Ellicott City.
“It was a great experience and I learned an awful lot at those debates,” Butler said of her campaign. “You get such a wide range of questions. You get to know what the public is thinking and that’s a great thing.”
Finishing behind Butler were Betsy Grater, a retired teacher and business owner from Ellicott City who won 34,686 votes, and Di Zou, a college student from Glenwood with 22,406 votes.
Final election results released by the Board of Elections Nov. 14, including all absentee and provisional votes, show that incumbents Janet Siddiqui and Ellen Flynn Giles and newcomer Dyer won the three open seats on the school board in this year’s election.
Dyer, an Ellicott City attorney, said the conclusion of the election was “humbling” — and a relief.
“It’s a relief that the process is over,” he said. “I’m just very excited. I feel very young.”
He said his campaign’s “get-out-and-vote” efforts on Election Day, Nov. 4, might have sealed his victory, noting that his closest competitor, Diane Butler, earned more absentee votes than he did.
“The lead was whittled away and whittled away and whittled away,” he said of watching the absentee results over the past week.
Siddiqui, a Clarksville pediatrician who was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board in 2007, earned the most votes with 62,126 votes, or just under 22 percent of the vote.
Finishing second with 57,266 votes or about 20 percent of the vote was Giles, an editor and analyst from North Laurel who was first elected to the board in 2006.
Dyer won 54,148 votes.
Behind Dyer by 689 votes was Butler, of Ellicott City.
“It was a great experience and I learned an awful lot at those debates,” Butler said of her campaign. “You get such a wide range of questions. You get to know what the public is thinking and that’s a great thing.”
Finishing behind Butler were Betsy Grater, a retired teacher and business owner from Ellicott City who won 34,686 votes, and Di Zou, a college student from Glenwood with 22,406 votes.
user comments (1)
user exinsider says...
One hopes that "humbling" includes a vow by Mr. Dyer to refrain from suing the Board of which he has become a member!
Posted 10:42 PM, 11.17.08 | Permalink
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