Two take leads in school board, County Council races during mail-in ballot counts

Jul. 23—Two elected officials — one on the County Council, one on the school board — jumped from losing to winning positions on Friday as a count of mail-in ballots continued.

Frederick County Board of Education member Liz Barrett surged from ninth to seventh place in the 16-candidate field. The top candidates will advance from the primary to the general election, with four seats open on the board.

In the race for the Democratic nomination for a Frederick County Council seat in District 3, President M.C. Keegan-Ayer caught up with, then passed, challenger Jazmin Di Cola at the end of Friday's count.

Di Cola was up by 152 votes after the first round of mail-in counting on Thursday, but Keegan-Ayer was up by 10 votes when counting concluded on Friday.

Frederick County election officials plan to continue their count of mail-in ballots for all county, state and federal races on Saturday.

Keegan-Ayer, who had trailed in the race since Primary Election Day, has received 1,790 votes, unofficial results from the Frederick County Board of Elections show. Di Cola has 1,780.

Keegan-Ayer has received 62% of mail-in votes in the race. Di Cola led by by about 300 votes following Primary Election Day, but her lead was cut in half after the first day of mail-in vote counting on Thursday.

After Primary Election Day, Barrett, an incumbent seeking her third term, was 800 votes out of being in the top eight. Following Thursday's mail-in count, the gap was down to 350 votes.

The four school board candidates with the most votes so far are the four "apple ballot" candidates, whom the unions representing Frederick County Public Schools' employees have endorsed — incumbent Karen Yoho, Rae Gallagher, Dean Rose and Ysela Bravo.

Two candidates from the Education Not Indoctrination slate — Nancy Allen and Cindy Rose — are next, in fifth and sixth place.

Barrett is in seventh, followed by Education Not Indoctrination slate member Olivia Angolia in eighth.

Barrett's ascent in the race bumped the fourth Education Not Indoctrination slate member, Mark Joannides, out of the top eight.

The slate is a conservative group seeking to take control of the seven-member school board and wield influence over how the school system teaches students about subjects such as racism, sexuality and health.

Another County Council incumbent could be headed toward defeat. Michael Blue, who represents District 5, continues to trail Mason Carter, 54.5% to 45.5%, according to the latest figures released Friday.

Frederick County Board of Elections officials processed and counted about 5,800 mail-in votes Friday. Officials have counted more than 8,200 mail-in votes total.

As of Friday morning, the Board of Elections had received roughly 15,500 mail-in ballots, Elections Director Barbara Wagner said.

In Frederick County, 24,000 voters received a ballot by mail. The Board of Elections will count any that it receives until July 29, as long as the ballot was postmarked by July 19.

Wagner said she expects the board and its volunteers will finish processing and counting most of the remaining mail-in ballots on Saturday. Results will be posted to the county Board of Elections' website.

On Wednesday, the board will review and count provisional ballots, which voters use at the polls when there is a question about their eligibility or registration.

On July 29, election officials are expected to tabulate remaining mail-in ballots, finalize their vote counts and certify election results.

Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan