Johnson and McConnell in Tight Race for Bellevue School District Seat

Bellevue School Board member Betsy Johnson and challenger Steve McConnell were in a tight race in early returns Tuesday night, with about 200 votes separating the two.

McConnell was slightly ahead, with a less than 2 percent lead over Johnson, who was named to the seat of retiring board member Judy Bushnell a little over two years ago.

McConnell received the endorsement of the Bellevue Education Association, which called him an "advocate for increasing the transparency of the District’s decision-making process. His communication proposals include video-taping school board meetings, dispersing information more effectively, surveying community/staff and making the results public. Steve believes that this increased openness will also increase community involvement and has expressed a strong interest in hearing all voices. He has proposed a concrete plan to engage diverse stakeholder communities."

Johnson was endorsed by the incumbent she replaced, : "Under Betsy’s leadership there has been a further push to encourage open participation in major district decisions, including effective committees for the math and gifted programs."

Bellevue School Board Members Christine Chew, who was appointed to the board last year, and Mike Murphy were unopposed in the election.

Updated vote totals will be released Wednesday.

Bellevue School District Results

Director District No. 1