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The Asbury Park School Board Election returns are in and the Moving Ahead Together team was able to pull ahead to claim the three open seats, according to unofficial results from the Monmouth County Clerk.

The team consists of incumbent Connie Breech, former board member Barbara Lesinski and newcomer Dominic Latorraca.

Lesinski, who served two full terms on the Asbury Park Board of Education, lost her bid for a third term in November by 10 votes, an upset that came after the provisional ballots were counted.

Provisional ballots are for a voter whose eligibility to vote is unclear on election night. If the Monmouth County Board of Elections determines a voter is eligible, their provisional ballot is then opened and counted.

“I  am so grateful to the voters for their support,” Lesinski said via telephone. “We look forward to helping the Board and the Superintendent move our students ahead.”

The team was challenged by current Board President Nicolle Harris, former board member James Famularo and newcomer Derrick Grant, who ran on the From the Community, For the Community ticket.

This was the first time four years that voters set out to cast ballots for an April Board of Education [BOE] election. The BOE voted in January to move the election from November to April 19.

According to the County Clerk’s tally 2,907 of the 8,854 registered Asbury Park voters [close to 33 percent] turned out for the Tuesday night election. Polls were open from 3 to 9 p.m. There were 10 write-in votes.

The unofficial tally does not include provisional ballots, which have yet to be counted, according to city clerk Cindy Dye. Dye expects the provisional ballots to be counted later in the week, she said.

Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon said there are 29 uncounted provisional ballots.

The votes are divided among the candidates as follows:

Barbara Lesinski 544 votes, or 18.71 percent.

Connie Breech 527 votes, or 18.13 percent.

Dominic Latorraca 519 votes, or 17.85 percent.

Nicolle Harris 425 votes, or 14.62 percent.

Derrick Grant 477 votes, or 16.41 percent.

James Famularo 405 votes, or 13.93 percent.

Voters also approved the school district spending plan by 64.86 percent. There were 502 votes out of 774 in support of the $65.4 million budget. The $6,768.45 tax levy equates to a $20 annual increase for the owner of the average $227,000 assessed home.

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The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

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