FORSYTH COUNTY – Three races for seats on the Forsyth County Board of Education were on the ballot in Tuesday’s General Primary, and all three incumbents made it past this round, two of whom are set to serve another term for the school system.

Nancy Roche, the District 5 board member and current longest-standing BOE representative, earned enough votes to avoid a runoff with 61.67 percent, or 2,281 votes.

Roche, a Republican who has served on the board since 2001, said she expected a runoff since there were three candidates but that she was thrilled with the results.

“I think incumbent was a good advertisement for me, and I think we’re doing a great job,” she said.

She noted achievements the school system has boasted in recent weeks, including the highest district-wide College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) in Georgia, may have influenced voters into trusting the current leadership.

Roche said she was glad her opponents ran a clean race.

“I’m glad they were so nice as far as running. It didn’t get negative as some other campaigns did,” she said.

Kevin Foley earned 24.52 percent of the votes against Roche, or 907 votes.

“Despite everything, I had fun doing it,” Foley said.

He said at least his baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, won Tuesday night.

Mike Tasos, who writes a Sunday column in the Forsyth County News, secured 13.81 percent of the votes, or 511 votes.

“I was surprised because you hear a lot of people complaining about growth and the school system, but with numbers like that, I guess you can say the voters have spoken and the message is they’re happy with the way things are,” Tasos said. “But I do want to thank the 510 people who voted for me. I appreciate it. Those people bought what I was selling.”

Roche will face Democrat Anita Holcomb Tucker in November, who ran unopposed Tuesday.

District 3

In the District 3 race, which is where three new schools are set to open by 2018, Incumbent Tom Cleveland re-claimed his post for a fourth term with 54.47 percent, or 1,548 of the votes.

“I’m going to continue to be who I am and continue to create relationships with folks and ask them for their support, and that’s pretty much how we ran our campaign,” Cleveland said. “The results we’ve had over the last 12 years since I’ve been on the board have continued to increase, and I get excited about being able to serve another term.”

He said moving forward he plans to introduce a heat map he created that shows the “pain points of the school systems in terms of capacity.”

Cleveland beat out Steve Mashburn on the Republican ballot, who secured 45.53 percent of the votes, or 1,654 votes.

Mashburn said he ran for the position because he felt the board needed to become more “outspoken about the uncontrollable growth that will eventually destroy our award-winning school system” and that he will continue to work for the ideals upon which he ran.

District 4

Darla Light, chairwoman of the board and representative for District 4, ran unopposed in the Republican primary to be re-elected for her third term.