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Stephen Orgain conceded the Livermore school board Area 2 race to Tara Boyce on Wednesday, after initial ballot counts showed him trailing by about 1,300 votes.
Boyce had received 74.3% of the vote against Orgain’s 25.7% in the most recent update from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, which came about 2 a.m. Wednesday. The tally was based off of 2,658 votes, which includes all in-person votes and some early mail-in ballots.
As the district’s first by-trustee-area election, there is no incumbent for the seat, which will represent central Livermore on the five-person board.
Though there are outstanding ballots still to be counted, Orgain acknowledged Boyce was poised to come out on top.
“To Tara, congratulations on your sound victory,” Orgain said in an email to Livermore Vine. “While we have different perspectives, I believe we share an interest in seeing our community thrive.”Â
Boyce said she was encouraged by the initial tally but was not ready to declare victory with ballots still coming in.
“I will wait to celebrate or concede until a much higher percentage of total votes are counted in the coming days,” she said.
Boyce is a district parent and finance consultant who unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat on the board in November 2024.
Facing an established candidate was an “uphill battle,” said Orgain, a regional sales manager, adding that the main message of his campaign, community involvement, didn’t appear to resonate with voters.
He said Livermore Education Association and other organizations “worked hard to support their candidate, and that shows in the results.”
“My only regret is that those organizations made no attempts to understand alternate points of view,” he said.
However, he said he trusts Boyce to approach the role with integrity, diligence and accountability.
The registrar’s office will continue to tally ballots throughout the week, though as of Wednesday afternoon an office worker was not able to provide a date for the next scheduled update.
