Della Streaty-Wilhoit and Blake Willoughby are set to occupy seats on Columbia's school board after election wins Tuesday night.
Streaty-Wilhoit and Willoughby garnered 11,568 and 9,096, respectively. Opponent Jay Atkins had 6,806 votes, while Brian Jones, who dropped out of the race in early February, but was not removed from the ballot, had 2,665.
Family members and friends circled around Streaty-Wilhoit as she gave her victory speech at Cheerleader Pub and Grill.
Streaty-Wilhoit called the evening a “celebration.” Surrounded by supporters, she credited her parents for teaching her the importance of education. For Streaty-Wilhoit, the election fell on a day of loss. Her mom, who went by the nickname “Mother Goldie,” died the morning of the election.
“This is a celebration for her. And so thank you, Mother. And it’s also a celebration for the Columbia School Board and my family,” Streaty-Wilhoit said.
Streaty-Wilhoit ran on reducing racial disparity in educational outcomes and encouraging more female students to participate in science, technology, engineering and math education.
Willoughby said the most important issue in his campaign was the desire to create an environment where students feel safe and accepted. He believes in the importance of discussing diversity and inclusivity.
“I think that is something this community holds near and dear to their hearts. I do too and I think that has resonated here,” Willoughby said.
Willoughby, a doctoral student at the University of Missouri, has served on the Columbia Substance Abuse Advisory Commission and the Columbia Public Transit Advisory Commission.
“If I wasn’t already in love with this town and the community, I have fallen deeply in love with it,” Willoughby said. “This campaign has made it where [I know] this is home and I am going to stay here the majority of my life.”
School board candidate Jay Atkins lost the election. He congratulated Streaty-Wilhoit and Willoughby on their campaigns and said he hopes they address literacy rates, one of his biggest campaign goals.
“Our literacy gap, achievement gap measures are horrific in this district and they need to do some work on it,” Atkins said. “I hope they tackle that. It’s a big problem and I hope they go after it.”
Both Willoughby and Streaty-Wilhoit said one of their first priorities is to engage with the other members of the board.
“Before I jump in there feet first, I am going to listen to the experts — and they are the experts,” Streaty-Wilhoit said.