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3 incumbents, 9 newcomers file to run for WS/FCS Board of Education

WFDD File photo

Candidate filing for the 2026 elections opened Monday.

State Board of Elections documents show 12 people have filed to run for seats on the nine-member Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education so far.

There’s an even split between Democrats and Republicans, but there are more newcomers than incumbents.

Democrat Richard Watts is one of just three current members to have filed for re-election. He’s running for an at-large seat on the board, along with Democrats Valerie Brockenbrough and Gwendolyn Johnson.

The other two incumbents, Republicans Susan Miller and Robert Barr, have filed to run for a District 2 seat. Three Republicans join them: Zachary Hubbard, Jill Nelson Berlin and Tracy Lesser. Also in the running are Democrats Steve Folmar and Curtis Fentress.

In District 1, there are two candidates running for two seats: Democrat Chenita Barber Johnson and Republican Mike Klinetobe.

The filing period is open through Dec. 19.

Amy Diaz began covering education in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and High Country for WFDD in partnership with Report For America in 2022. Before entering the world of public radio, she worked as a local government reporter in Flint, Mich. where she was named the 2021 Rookie Writer of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. Diaz is originally from Florida, where she interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida, but truly got her start in the field in elementary school writing scripts for the morning news. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

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