Yant Holds On To Win

James Yant won the primary with nearly a 20-point lead over the next-closest opponent, Gene Magrini.

On Tuesday, the 62-year-old insurance agent won a much closer contest with Magrini, 43, for the District 4 seat on the Hernando County School Board.

With all 56 precincts reported, Yant won by 4,389 more votes - a six-point margin.

Despite the loss, Magrini sounded upbeat and encouraged by the high voter turnout when contacted over the phone late Tuesday.

"It's amazing and humbling that more than 34,000 people voted for me," he said. "A lot of folks came out to show support."

He said he contacted Yant by phone about 9:30 p.m. to congratulate him.

Yant did not return a message for comment.

Yant will occupy the seat held by longtime school board member Jim Malcolm, who is retiring. His last school board meeting was Tuesday.

Last month, Malcolm announced he was endorsing Magrini. The Hernando Classroom Teacher's Association, the local teacher's union, also endorsed him. Both might have done a lot to sway the public as the results did not come close to mirroring the primary contest. In August, Yant won 46 percent of the vote versus Magrini, who had less than 27 percent.

The third-place finisher in that election, Robert Neuhausen, earned 26 percent. Soon after the primary, he endorsed Yant.

But in the end, Yant held on to win the only local school board race held during this election season.

Yant is a former educator with Hernando County Schools and began his educational work in the 1970s.

Magrini owns a local human resources consulting firm.

He said it was "too soon" to decide whether he would run for office again.

School Board District 4

James Yant - 38,457, 53 percent.

James Magrini - 34,068, 47 percent.