Three Hernando County School Board races set, District 5 draws three-way fight
Three Hernando school board races are set, and District 5's three-way fight will put every county voter on a seat that was won by just 52% in 2022.
The qualifying period closed June 12, locking in three Hernando County School Board races and making District 5 the most crowded contest on the county ballot. Incumbent Susan Duval faces Brooksville Main Street board member Amanda Cunningham-Rud and Kara Champion, the daughter of County Commissioner Steve Champion, in a race that reaches beyond one neighborhood because every Hernando County voter will cast a ballot in these district elections.
Hernando County’s primary election is set for Aug. 18, voter registration and party changes are due by July 20, and early voting runs from Aug. 8 to 15. The board has five members, each required to live in the district they represent, and it meets publicly with workshops, public hearings and special meetings livestreamed and recorded. The district serves 24,015 students in 32 schools.
District 5 stretches across most of Brooksville and a large section of eastern Hernando County, and Duval enters the race with the narrowest political cushion. She first won election in 2014 and won reelection in 2022 with 52% of the vote in a tight runoff. Champion has opened with the strongest fundraising total at $11,700, including a $1,000 contribution from her father and another $1,000 from his gun shop. Cunningham-Rud reported $2,050, while Duval loaned herself $2,000.
District 1 is a rematch between incumbent Mark Johnson and Dana Lynne Pearce, the recently retired principal of Springstead High School. Johnson has the longer political history, including a prior defeat and comeback, and he raised $7,235 with support from developers and other local interests. Pearce loaned herself $2,000. Johnson’s last victory was another narrow one: he won his 2022 runoff with 52% of the vote.
District 3 pits Vice Chair Shannon Rodriguez against Luciano Vignali, who has become a familiar presence at board meetings. Rodriguez, who owns Dynasty Collision and Auto Repair in Weeki Wachee and has three of her four daughters enrolled in Hernando County schools, has raised $30,350, most of it self-funded. Vignali has raised $3,940. Rodriguez won election in 2022 with 60% of the vote and now serves as vice chair under Chair Kayce Hawkins.
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