CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Ric Cavender and Jim Crawford won a four-man race for two Kanawha County School Board spots in Tuesday night’s primary election.
Crawford is currently serving on the board, and Cavender will fill the void left by board President Robin Rector, who decided not to seek another term.
“Robin Rector, she’s going to be a big one to fill,” Cavender said following his victory Tuesday night. “She set a really high bar of professionalism on that board, and I hope to continue that trend.”
Cavender said he was excited to join the board, and was overwhelmed by the support he’d received running for public office for the first time.
“Just extremely humbled by the outpour of support for this campaign,” he said. “Honestly, I’m almost in shock. It’s the first time I’ve run for public office; but obviously very thankful.”
With kids in the Kanawha school system, Cavender said he was focused on ensuring career readiness early in public schools.
“The day I filed I said that I truly believe the workforce training begins as soon as you enter a child into school, in one form or another,” he said. “As soon as they enter the public school system, we’re training them to one day become part of the future workforce.”
The winners of the nonpartisan race have no general election; they’ll take office on the five-member board July 1.
Cavender and Crawford defeated Bill Carpenter and former Charleston councilman Adam Knauff.
Currently, Cavender is the Executive Director of Charleston Main Streets.