November 5, 2024, Election Results
Apple Valley, California (High Desert News Online) – As of November 11, 2024, preliminary results from the November 5 election for the Apple Valley Unified School District (AVUSD) Board indicate leads for Anita Tucker in Area 1 and Renee Longshore in Area 3.
As of 2:00pm November 9, 2024, the total number of ballots counted were 487,794 with 269,700 unprocessed and 20,500 challenged ballots / left to cure (noncomparable signature on identification envelope or unsigned identification envelope and first-time federal voter).
Area 1 Election
Anita Tucker has garnered 2,783 votes (57.16%), surpassing incumbent Gary Arce, who has received 2,086 votes (42.84%).
Area 3 Election
Renee Longshore leads with 2,417 votes (68.14%), while Gary Childress has 1,079 votes (30.86%).
Campaign Strategies
Anita Tucker (Area 1): A longtime Apple Valley resident and AVUSD alumna, Tucker emphasized her 30-year educational career, including roles as a classified employee, teacher, administrator, and university professor. Her campaign focused on enhancing school safety, improving educational quality, and ensuring fiscal responsibility. She highlighted the district’s performance metrics, noting that schools are 66 points below standards in English language arts and literacy, and 103 points below standards in mathematics.
Gary Arce (Area 1): The incumbent, Arce, brought 35 years of experience as a high school science teacher, including 31 years at Apple Valley High School, and over 20 years as a geology instructor at UC Riverside. His campaign emphasized his extensive educational background and ongoing commitment to the district.
Renee Longshore (Area 3): With 22 years of teaching experience in the High Desert, Longshore’s campaign centered on school safety, retaining qualified teachers, and providing diverse educational opportunities. She underscored her personal connection to the community, having raised her four children in Apple Valley, and her firsthand understanding of local educational needs.
Gary Childress (Area 3): Childress, a third-generation educator, highlighted his diverse professional background, including roles as a stockbroker, real estate broker, club tennis professional, and television weather forecaster. His campaign proposed innovative educational approaches, such as broadcasting top teachers’ lesson plans across classrooms to standardize high-quality instruction.
These preliminary results reflect the candidates’ efforts to address key issues within the district and resonate with voters’ priorities.
High Desert News Online feels comfortable to call this race for Anita Tucker and Renee Longshore.
