PUSD Seat 6 Candidates Prepare for Run-Off Election

After none of the three candidates vying for Seat 6 on the PUSD Board of Education garnered enough votes take the seat in the March 8 election, frontrunners Tom Selinski and Sean Baggett will face a run-off election on April 19.

Selinske, the incumbent, came in at just under the necessary "50 percent plus one" majority, getting 6,785 votes, or 47.3 percent of the total ballots cast. His challenger, local Tea Party-backed candidate Sean Baggett, took home 5,030 votes, or 35 percent of the vote.

But the wild card in what may have otherwise been a race settled on election night was candidate Gaylaird Christopher. As the third candidate vying for the seat, Christopher received 2,520 votes, or 17.5 percent of the total 14,335 votes cast in the district-wide election, according to still-uncertified totals from the Pasadena City Clerk's office.

As for his place in the coming runoff, Christopher said he is initially reluctant to offer an endorsement of either candidate, but that he would be meeting individually with each of them soon and may offer an endorsement at a later date.

On election night, Selinkse expressed his disappointment that his campaign was unable to gain the necessary majority, a feeling he reiterated in a recent interview.

"We were obviously hoping to get the 50 percent plus one we needed to complete the election on March 8," Selinske said. "We came very close, but didn't get there, so we're geared up for another campaign."

Indeed, Selinske does see the coming runoff as "another campaign," one for which he says there has been an outpouring of help in the form of volunteers, monetary contributions and endorsements from some Pasadena City Council members. 

The response and people supporting has been immense, actually, Selinkse said: "Probably three times the amount of people."

What's more, Selisnke's campaign costs alone support the idea that the runoff election is an almost an entirely new campaign in itself. "I believe we spent between $25,000 and $30,000 on the first campaign," he said, adding that he believed he would spend a similar amount on the runoff campaign. "Even though there's fewer voters, we still need to reach out and reach all potential voters."

Baggett--who surprised many in the district with not only his strong performance but also some of his more unorthodox ideas such as the possible secession of Sierra Madre from the PUSD--was unavailable for comment prior to deadline.