Alachua County voters picked Hunter Miller to be their new school board member for District 1.
Miller faced incumbent Janine Plavac. Both ran for this seat for the second time in a row, the last time being in August.
This was a runoff — needed after neither candidate won a majority in August. Miller had 46% of the vote while Plavac had about 36%.
Miller said he was nervous with all eyes on him. He added there is always a feeling of uncertainty, but he tried to feel confident throughout the race.
“There was over 50,000 votes for me, so all those people are expecting a lot for me, and I’m hoping I can deliver that,” he said.
Miller credits the win to a door-knocking campaign. He said he knocked on more than 2,000 doors and tried to talk to as many people as possible. There were times when he would knock on doors even if they had a Plavac sign, he said.
“If you just rely on ads you won’t get too far,” Miller said. “You have to go to people themselves and say, ' Hey, here I am in person and a lot of them are surprised to see me.”
Now that he won, Miller hopes people hold him accountable.
Miller said he feels relief that the race is over, but amid the celebration, he’ll start planning what to do as a school board member. He said he is just a teacher until he is sworn in.
“That’s my entire goal, action instead of just talking,” He said.
Miller is set to be sworn in on Nov. 17 during the school board meeting.
Miller is a math teacher at Howard Bishop Middle School, and his campaign focused on closing an achievement gap by focusing on early grade literacy. Plavac has a long background in education and was appointed to the board last year for District 5, but her term comes to an end in 2026 and was appointed to the seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Both candidates have said in their campaign that they’d want to look to find a permanent superintendent and improve behavioral and literacy rates, especially since the county has had problems in recent years with a gap in literacy rates between white and Black students.
Plavac ran to remain on the school board, since she’s currently serving in District 5, and she focused on campaigning to keep Williams Elementary and Alachua Elementary open after a decrease in enrollment and a tight school budget. She’s also criticized her opponent for being “too young,” saying he’s only been a teacher for three years.
Meanwhile, Miller said he’s worried about the school district’s finances and whether financial decisions are made in a cautious manner to prevent the state from intervening.
Polls close at 7 p.m. local time in Florida, 8 p.m. ET in the western Panhandle. See all other Florida election results here and complete Florida voting coverage here.
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