David Simons told a variety of local media outlets, including WTOC and the Savannah Morning News, that he was dropping out of the race for the presidency of the Savanah-Chatham school board. Simons finished second to Jolene Byrne in Tuesday’s primary for the presidency of the Savanah-Chatham school board.
From Simons:
“After careful consideration and with the support of my family, I am terminating my bid for Savannah-Chatham County School Board President. This position is too important to be distracted by issues unrelated to educating the children of Chatham County. I have learned from the challenges of candidacy, and I believe these lessons will make me a better campaign consultant going forward. I truly care about the future of our children and this community and believe this is the right decision at this time.”
Simons got 21.5 percent of the vote, a distant second to Jolene Byrne’s 40.1 percent. Byrne now will presumably face Chester Ellis in the July runoff; Ellis had 17.3 percent of the vote on Tuesday.
It seemed like Simons had little chance of beating Byrne no matter what, and it looked like we might be faced with sort of a nasty two months with members of the local business community who were supporting Simons pitted against an engaged group of parents and community activists. Unlikely there would have been any winners in that campaign.