Andy Wheeler gets spot in GVUSD

In a race for a spot on the Golden Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees seat, Andy Wheeler claimed a victory over Warren Parr. Before any of the precincts were reporting, Wheeler held a 60-40 percent edge with the absentee ballots for the Area 3 seat for the retiring Mike Kelly, who served 12 years. The results started rolling in and Wheeler heaved a sigh of relief when he still had that edge with six of nine precincts reporting. “I felt safe with about six of nine precincts reporting,” Wheeler said. “I work with numbers for a living so I just calculated the numbers.” In the final results, Wheeler received 456 votes for 57.9 percent while Parr received 324 votes for 41.2 percent. “It’s a proud thing,” Wheeler said. “You hope you are on the right track and are doing the right thing. To receive the votes and the blessing from the community just makes you feel you are on the right path and they know your heart is in the right place.” Wheeler knew the competition with Parr was going to be tough. “You always have to go into a campaign or competition with the idea that you’re going to come out with a win,” Wheeler said. “You have to keep that plan all the way through. I always played to the idea that it was going to be a tight race. There was never a point in time where I felt I could let up. I knew Warren was always going to give it his all. You never know what the results are going to be. You never know what the opposite side is doing.” Wheeler is the fourth GVUSD board member elected within the past year. Mona Diaz, Maria Knobloch and Brian Freeman were elected after a recall election last year. Incumbent Steve Lewis ran unopposed and wasn’t on the ballot.