A majority of the nine seats on the South Butler County School Board were up for grabs for the primary election on Tuesday night.

Seven candidates, including two incumbents, vied for the five open board seats.

School board candidates cross-file on both the Republican and Democrat tickets, and the top five vote-getters appear on each ballot in November.

Appearing on the Democratic ballot in November are Andrew Adams with 484 votes, incumbent Debra Miller with 481, Tim Danehy with 486, current school board President Donna Eakin with 407 and Dale Fennell with 360 votes.

The top vote-getter on the Republican side was Miller, with 1,486 votes. Also appearing on the Republican ticket in November are William Gebhart with 1,455 votes, Fennell with 1,406, Eakin with 1,297 and David McRandal with 1,183.

The vote counts were provided unofficially on Tuesday night by the county elections bureau.

Miller said on Tuesday night that she will be proud to serve her fifth 4-year term on the school board if she wins in November.

“I've served four terms and actually, I'm looking forward to it,” she said. “I'm supercharged.”

She said those she chatted with at the various precincts in the district gave her positive feedback regarding her service on the board.

“The people said they trust me to do what's right,” Miller said.

She appreciates the support of the district's voters, particularly in a local election.

“It's not a presidential or governor's election, and for them to come out for school director and judges and township supervisors, I think it's important to thank them for that,” she said.

In addition to increasing academics and safety while keeping the budget healthy, Miller said there is one particular goal she has for the district's residents.

“The one thing I would like to see is a change in the attitude of our school district,” she said. “Let's look at the positive and what we do right and acknowledge that.”

She said she is proud of the education that students get in the South Butler School District, and she hopes to continue that.

“We are producing children who are going to go out and be successful members of the community,” Miller said.

She is glad the negative part of the campaigning is over.

“I'm glad we can move on to the general election,” Miller said.