Babur Lateef Wins Prince William School Board Race

Candidate for Prince William School Board Chairman, Dr. Lateef Babur.

In the Prince William County School Board Chairman Special Election, Babur Lateef is leading Alyson Satterwhite 47.76% to 42.23% and appears to be the winner with over 98% of the vote counted. Stanley Bender has 10% of the vote.

Dr. Lateef, interim chair, is an orphthalmologist and a father who ran with heavy support from the Democrats, proposed more funding for teachers and student, safe schools, an investment infrastructure and closing the achievement gap.

Satterwhite, representative for the Gainesville district, is a strong advocate for special education and a big proponent of adding counsellors, social workers, nurses and school psychologists. She said she is also a fiscal conservative and had the support of the Republican Party.

Bender ran as an independent.

This was a special election for school board chairman at-large after Ryan Sawyers stepped down last spring. Lateef was elected to the interim position by the school board.

There will be another regular election for school board chairman next year.

There is a concern from Republicans that misleading signs saying "Republicans for Bender" may have confused some voters, taking votes away from Satterwhite.

Results are based upon information from the Virginia State Board of Elections website. Results are subject to change as end of night, absentee or provisional votes are counted.

UPDATE: Tuesday at 11:42 p.m. 

Satterwhite was cheerful, even in admitting likely defeat (She would like to see all the absentee votes counted.) In a Facebook video, she thanked all of her supporters and volunteers, telling them she was proud of the campaign they ran.

“Despite the dirty politics at the polls, we accomplished an amazing thing today,” she said, referencing the Bender signs. She said she was proud of the number of voters her team mobilized. 

"We had a strong showing, and we had strong support across the county. It was not about Republican it was not about Democrat, it was about people in Prince William County. I will continue advocating for our students, for our parents, for our staff members, for our taxpayers."

Satterwhite seemed to have a renewed energy, and she can funnel that into her current role as Gainesville representative.

"I will continue advocating. I will continue to work hard. I was inspired by our performance today. I am looking forward to continuing my term as the Gainesville District School board member. I am going to be at the school board meeting tomorrow night.”

“We’re still waiting to see how the absentee votes went.”

UPDATE: Thursday at 8:42 a.m. 

On Wednesday, Chairman Lateef sent a statement, regarding his special election win to become school board chairman at-large.

I am humbled and grateful to have been elected Prince William County School Board Chair by the voters of our great county. Last night's results were an overwhelming validation by the people Prince William County for who they believe shared their values. I ran a positive campaign that was committed to student success, the safety and security of our schools, the space and the infrastructure needs of our schools, and teachers/staff salaries. I have worked six months as the Interim School Board Chair to do all of these things. I am proud that the school administration is moving towards addressing my agenda and platform. The voters in Prince William County approved my message and gave mean overwhelming victory last night. I did this by promoting a positive message about where our school system needs to go and how we are going to get there. I am excited to move forward as the Chairman-Elect and to continue working on the issues that mattered to the voters and students of Prince William County. I would like to thank all my campaign volunteers, supporters, and the voters of Prince William County. I look forward to helping deliver a World Class Education for ALL of our students.