Santa Monica incumbents top Malibu candidates in Board of Ed race

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Current Board of Ed member Ben Allen (left), and AMPS members Craig Foster and Seth Jacobson participate in a forum for Board of Education candidates on Oct. 3 at Malibu City Hall. 

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education will remain without a Malibu representative as three locals failed to win open seats on the board in Tuesday’s election. 

Santa Monica incumbents Ben Allen, Jose Escarce and Maria Leon-Vazquez retained their seats on the SMMUSD Board of Education, ending a months-long campaign challenge from Malibu education activists Craig Foster, Seth Jacobson and Karen Farrer who ran on a “reform slate.”

Allen topped the leaderboard with nearly 18,000 votes, followed by Leon-Vazquez and Escarce. Foster was 1,150 votes within third place, followed by Farrer and Jacobson. 

Malibu has not had a representative on the board of education since 2008.  

Here are the final election results released by the Santa Monica City Clerk’s office: 

Allen: 17,889 votes (24.57%)

Leon-Vazquez: 14,294 (19.63%)

Escarce: 12,803 (17.59%)

Foster: 11,653 (16.01%)

Farrer: 9,305 (12.78%)

Jacobson: 6,859 (9.42%)

Stay tuned for more coverage of the local 2012 election.Â