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The two contested seats for the Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees, areas 3 and 5, are among the elections with confirmed outcomes, as incumbents William Kuo and Dan Cherrier each outperformed his respective challenger by a nearly 2:1 margin.
In Area 3, Kuo leads with 65.10% (1,625 votes) and John Wu received 34.90% (871 votes), as of Monday’s results update from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters’ Office, which includes the vast majority of ballots cast in the Nov. 8 election.
Kuo has served on the board since May 2021 when he was appointed to fill the seat left vacant by the death of his wife, then-trustee Catherine Kuo, in a traffic collision at Fallon Middle School. He was interviewed and selected for the appointment out of a total of three applicants, one of whom was Wu.
Results confirm Kuo has defeated Wu in the election to serve Area 3 for a shortened term that runs until 2024 — when it will return to the regular four-year election cycle.
“I’m so grateful to my supporters and humbled by their show of confidence in me,” Kuo said to the Weekly after reflecting on election outcomes.
“I am looking forward to two more years of serving the community and working hard to get some of the campaign promises started on,” he added.
During the campaign, Kuo said his main priorities included school safety and fiscal responsibility. He also supports the completion of Emerald High School, DUSD second comprehensive high school, which will serve students on the east side of town.
Runner-up Wu is a Dublin resident, volunteer and real estate broker. He focused his school board campaign on remedying school capacity problems, collaboration and increasing opportunities for students. He has served as contributing members for both the Parent Faculty Club (Dublin High and Dougherty Elementary schools) and the DUSD Budget Committee.
For ballots cast in DUSD’s Area 5, Cherrier earned 64.08% (1,914 votes) and Hakim followed with 35.92% (1,073 votes).
Cherrier, a civil engineer and current board president, sought his reelection to the Board of Trustees after first being voted in at-large in 2016. He was elected again to a full term in 2018.
According to his campaign website, he prioritizes transparency and the completion of Emerald High School. Cherrier declined to offer comments to the Weekly about his campaign victory.
Challenger Hakim previously served a partial term on the school board in an appointed capacity in 2015 and 2016. He is currently the vice chair of the city of Dublin’s Parks and Community Services Commission.
Joining Cherrier and Kuo to start new terms next month will be first-time Trustee Kristin Speck, who was the only candidate to file for the Area 2 position and did not appear on the ballot as uncontested.
Speck prioritized equity and inclusion, teacher resources and fiscal responsibility in her campaign. She succeeds outgoing Area 2 Trustee Megan Rouse, who did not seek reelection and ultimately endorsed Speck.
