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Yant Gains Sharp Lead In School Board Race

In the end, experience is what counts.

By LINNEA BROWN

Hernando Today

Published: August 27, 2008

BROOKSVILLE -
In the end, experience is what counts.
That was the apparent message from local residents who showed up at the polls Tuesday to vote for Spring Hill insurance agent James Yant, 62, for the District 4 seat on the Hernando County School Board.
With 53 of 56 precincts reporting, Yant garnered a significant lead over human resources consultant Gene Magrini, 43, and engineer Robert Neuhausen, 40, both of Spring Hill.
However, because he did not have 50 percent of the votes plus one, Yant will face off against Magrini in the general election in November.
They will vie for the seat currently held by longtime school board member Jim Malcolm, who is retiring.
"We're just going to have to see what happens," Yant said Tuesday evening, deflecting attention from the enormous lead he had over the other two candidates.
While he has never served in a public office, Yant is a former educator who has been involved in Hernando County schools and numerous local educational organizations since the 1970s.
Yant said he feels residents chose him because they trust him.
"I've been around for a number of years," he said. "Most of the people that know me know I'm going to be straight shooter and am not going to do anything that's unfair. If I'm going to win, it's just going to be based on who I am."
Meanwhile, Magrini said he's already preparing his strategy for the runoff.
"I'm going to run hard and run strong," he said. "'I'm especially going to figure out why my message didn't resonate with the voters, and work hard to get my message out there and overcome this deficit."
With 53 of 56 precincts reporting and a total of 11,377 votes, Yant had 5,538 votes, or 46 percent of the votes. Magrini had 3,177, or nearly 27 percent of the votes, and Neuhausen had just more than 26 percent of the votes.
"For me to (say more) would be premature," Yant said. "With everything I've done, I know that I can just continue to give it my best and let the chips fall where they may. I just like to try to be the best."