Bonnie Votaw has a commanding lead in the Las Cruces Public Schools District 4 race.
With three of five polling places and early voting accounted for, Votaw has 485 of 590 votes, or 82 percent. Larry Garcia, the other candidate for the open board seat, has 105 votes, or 18 percent.
Votaw said, with a chuckle, that she’s not ready to declare victory, then gave a quote that sounds like it’s coming from a winner.
“It was very humbling to work on this campaign, because so many people helped,” she said. “… It tells me that the schools are important to people. That level of commitment is an amazing and important thing.”