A Republican maintenance worker defeated a Democrat lawn-service businessman in the race for the District 6 seat on the Limestone Board of Education.

Meanwhile, in the District 7 school board race, Republican incumbent Earl Glaze defeated Democratic challenger Terri Jan Harris.

“I’m tickled to death,” said Republican Anthony Hilliard, 44, of Athens, after winning the District 6 race Tuesday by 57 votes. “I appreciate the people coming out and voting.”

Hilliard defeated Democrat Darrell Blankenship, 38, of Toney, a self-employed, lawn-service businessman and volunteer firefighter for Oak Grove and Thach.

The final but unofficial total was 697 votes (or 52.01 percent) for Hilliard to 640 (or 47.76 percent) for Blankenship. There were also three write-in votes in the race (or .22 percent).

Hilliard will replace incumbent Roger Whitt, who did not seek re-election.

Hilliard, a Calhoun Community College maintenance worker, hopes to hire a grant writer to bring more money to school projects.

“With my experience writing grants at Calhoun and at Johnson Elementary when my children were there, I know we could do a lot of good.”

Hilliard has been attending school board meetings all year.

“In case I won, I didn’t want to go in blind,” Hilliard said.

His first official meeting will be 6 p.m. Dec. 4 at Owens Elementary School.

A graduate of Buckhorn High School, Calhoun Community College and Athens State University, Hilliard has a degree in vocational education. He has no political experience. He and his wife Veronica have two children, Olivia, an eighth-grader at Ardmore, and Sarah, a sixth-grader at Ardmore.



District 7 school board race

In the District 7 school board race, Republican incumbent Glaze beat Democratic challenger Harris by 364 votes.

Glaze, 42, of Capshaw, who manages the Athens Sanitation Department, beat Harris 1,359 votes (or 57.61 percent) to 995 votes (or 42.18 percent). There were also five write-in votes in the race (or .21 percent).

A graduate of Elkmont High School, Glaze has already served one term on the Limestone County school board. He and his wife Kim have two children and two stepchildren.

He has said he favors building a middle school at the Creekside campus to handle overcrowding and future growth.

Harris, 40, a Capshaw resident and substitute teacher, made a respectable showing against an incumbent board member. A graduate of East Limestone High School and the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Harris has a degree in cytotechnology. She and her husband John have two children.