JUST 3 VOTES Separate Conservative Challenger and 3-Term Incumbent in Florida School Board Race
Current unofficial results show Kara Champion leading longtime incumbent Susan Duval 13,717 to 13,714 in a Florida school board race headed to a November runoff.
HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — Three votes.
That is all that currently separates conservative school board challenger Kara Champion from three-term incumbent Susan Duval in one of Florida’s closest local races of the 2026 primary.
Current unofficial results in the Hernando County School Board District 5 contest show Champion with 13,717 votes, or 38.96%, and Duval with 13,714 votes, or 38.95%.
A third candidate, Amanda Cunningham-Rud, received 7,781 votes, or 22.10%.
Because no candidate received a majority in the three-way, nonpartisan contest, Champion and Duval will advance to the November 3 general election, where voters will decide the District 5 seat.
A Race Within Florida’s Recount Threshold
The results remain unofficial as Hernando County completes the canvassing process.
Florida law requires a machine recount when qualifying unofficial returns show a candidate defeated or eliminated by one-half of one percent or less of the votes cast in the race, unless the trailing candidate asks in writing that a recount not be conducted.
With more than 35,000 votes cast in the District 5 contest and only three votes separating Champion and Duval, the current margin sits dramatically inside that threshold.
Florida law also provides for a manual recount of overvotes and undervotes when the qualifying margin is one-quarter of one percent or less, subject to statutory exceptions.
Two Very Different Candidates
Duval, 79, has served on the Hernando County School Board since 2014 and is seeking another term. She spent decades working in local education and previously served as principal of Springstead High School.
Champion, 28, is a local business owner and political newcomer.
Although Florida school board elections are officially nonpartisan, Champion has campaigned on themes closely associated with conservative education politics, including parental choice, family values, school transparency, accountability for taxpayer dollars and opposition to political indoctrination in classrooms.
Champion has also received the endorsement of Republican U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis.
Duval, meanwhile, is a registered Democrat and longtime educator whose campaign emphasizes her experience and years of service in the Hernando County school system.
The ideological differences between the candidates now move directly into a November head-to-head contest.
Three Votes — And a Reminder About Local Elections
School board elections rarely receive the attention given to presidential, congressional or gubernatorial races.
But school board members make decisions involving school policy, budgets, curriculum, parental involvement and the day-to-day operation of public schools.
In Hernando County, the current difference between the two candidates who will compete for the District 5 seat in November is just three votes.
13,717 to 13,714.
As Americans prepare for another major general election, the race provides a remarkably simple reminder:
Local elections matter. Every vote can matter.
The totals remain unofficial while election officials complete the canvassing process.
MAGA Viral™ will update this story if the recount, canvass or certification changes the current three-vote margin.
Editor’s Note
The Hernando County School Board District 5 election is officially nonpartisan. MAGA Viral™ describes Kara Champion as a conservative challenger based on her publicly stated campaign positions, conservative support and endorsements — not a political-party designation appearing on the school board ballot.
