Eardley, Fedorchak Earn Seats on the Mehlville School Board

Mehlville school board candidates and combined for more than 56 percent of the vote, earning them two spots on the board.

Eardley garnered the most votes with 3,260 when 48 of 48 precincts were counted in the St. Louis County unofficial election results Tuesday night. Fedorchak followed with 2,849. The two other candidates,  and , earned 2,645 and 1,895 votes respectively.

Voters chose two out of the four candidates to serve a three-year term on the Mehlville School Board Tuesday. Countywide, 13.8 percent of voters came out for the election. 

Eardley said she was excited after learning about the win via text message as she was in a class for her masters in education when the results came in.

“Hey, campaigning works! We did mailers that went out to 5,700 households and we did two robocalls and met with groups and people around town,” she said. “My dad and brother were unbelievable (Jim Murphy and Jamey Murphy).”

Eardley is eager to get started on the board, adding that she enjoyed getting to know people in the community through campaigning.

“My next move is to get to know the board and get to know what’s important to everyone on the board—get to know the concerns of the community, they’re important as are the students,” she said.

Fedorchak said the win was bittersweet, as he ran on a platform with Wainz.

“I think the community got the message that Mike and I were pro-education because percentage-wise, we stayed together all night,” he said. “I look forward to continuing (on the board). The ; the is something we’re going to have a lot of work to do on, whether or not to roll it all out to all the students all at once.”

in July after former member . This will be his first three-year term and Fedorchak said he looked forward to serving it with Eardley.

“I’m just interested to see what she wants to accomplish, she never really spelled out anything. I look forward to working with her,” he said.

“I think Ron and Kathleen ran an outstanding campaign,” Wainz said after the results came in. “They did a good job and I wish them the best of luck.”

Wainz said he didn’t see himself running again in the immediate future, but wants to get more involved in the Special School District, where his two oldest children attend programs. He said he was grateful for the help he received as well as the knowledge of the community he's gained.

“I want to thank Ron Fedorchak first and foremost for his help with everything and every last member of the board, because they’ve all been great with me,” he said. “It’s given me an opportunity to go out and talk to a lot of folks, a lot of groups, a lot of different teachers, parent organizations that I hadn’t necessarily had a chance to do before.”

Candidate

Number of Votes

Percentage of Vote

Ron Fedorchak

2,849

26.67

Mike Wainz

2,645

24.76

Kathleen Eardley

3,260

30.52

Fred Padberg

1,895

17.74

Write-in

33

.31

*St. Louis County unofficial results