EAST FORSYTH -- In an anticipated victory, Forsyth County Board of Education District 5 incumbent Nancy Roche has once again won the seat.

Roche, a Republican, received 79.8 percent of the vote, or 15,301 votes, trouncing her Democratic opponent, Anita Tucker, who won 20.2 percent, or 3,875 votes Tuesday night.

“I am so excited,” Roche said. “I appreciate the confidence Forsyth County has in me. [The result] shows they have confidence in the board and that we can be bigger and better in the future.”

Roche has served on the Board of Education since 2001, which has remained largely unchanged in the last 15 years.

In 2005, Roche was instrumental in the board earning the title of Most Tech-Savvy Board for Large School Systems and was appointed to the Georgia School Board Association’s Board of Directors in June 2007 for District 9.

District 5 on the BOE covers east Forsyth and Lake Lanier.

Roche faced two challengers in the May 24 primary but secured enough votes to avoid a runoff.

Her platform for her fifth term focused on her opposition to Opportunity School District, which appeared as Amendment 1 on Tuesday’s ballot. It did not pass, by a narrow margin.

Roche was not surprised by how close the results were, though.

“If you read the amendment as it [stood], you’d feel bad if you voted no – I mean, who wouldn’t want to help failing schools?” she said. “But it’s what wasn’t said in the verbiage that made it [not good.] The underlying issue is what you needed to be informed on and while we were trying to get the word out, we didn’t get it out as much as we [needed] to.”

Tucker said though she expected better results in the election, she felt confident the Democrats made a mark in the county.

“I was hoping to do a little better than I did, [but] Daniel [Blackman] and I are both breaking the ceiling — our own glass ceiling — here in the county,” she said. “It’s not a surprise; we campaigned hard and knocked on a lot of doors, made a lot of phone calls and I’m very happy that Amendment 1 was defeated. That was one of my main goals – that’s what we worked very hard on. For whatever reason, that message came through, and that’s positive and encouraging for the Democratic Party in the county.

“I’m not going to go away. I’m going to attend the [BOE] meetings and ask to speak every chance that I think someone needs to.”