Sharon Wooden said she suspected that Connie Phillips might defeat her in today’s election.
The current Las Cruces Public Schools District 5 board member and board president will be replaced by Phillips on March 1.
“That’s what I suspected, because there were just too many people unhappy,” Wooden said when told she had been defeated. “That’s alright. She’ll do a good job.”
Wooden attributed her defeat to the recent turmoil in the district. The board recently fired former Superintendent Sonia Diaz, who became the third leader to leave amid scandal in the last five years.
Wooden was elected to the board in 2003 after a hotly contested battle against Jack Nevarez and Sammy Cash Olsen.