School District 5: McRae appears to win race outright

With all eight precincts reporting, including advance in-person votes but not absentee, attorney and former Synovus executive Laurie McRae appears to have won the District 5 seat on the Muscogee County School Board.

In unofficial results, McRae has a majority of the votes (52.08) percent. She has 377 votes to retired businessman Pete Taylor’s 241, former educator and retired U.S. Army Ranger Todd Robinson’s 94 and attorney Robert Wadkins Jr.’s 69. It takes a majority of votes to avoid a runoff July 26.

No incumbent was in this race because Rob Varner decided to not seek a third four-year term. Varner, executive vice president of Synvous Securities, is chairman of the nine-member school board.

McRae said she is “thrilled” with the result.

“We worked really hard,” she said Tuesday night. “I think people really did relate to me as a parent. We spent a lot of time going door to door and talking to people, and we made a lot of connections that way.”

When she joins the board Jan. 1, McRae said, she hopes to “help lift struggling schools, make schools safer and bring more respect on the board and accessibility.”

Taylor said, “I think I did pretty good to come in second. I couldn’t overcome the money people were throwing her way. ... She was putting ads on radio and TV. I couldn’t afford that.”

Robinson and Wadkins weren’t reached for comment Tuesday night.

McRae, 42, worked at Synovus for 15 years. She was a vice president and a consultant for financial and estate planning before leaving two years ago to devote more time to her family, she said, although she does part-time contract work in estate planning.

McRae has four children, ages 7-14. Two attend Clubview Elementary School, where she is vice president of the PTA and chaired the silent auction and book fair. Her other children attend Brookstone School and Columbus High School, where she volunteers for a fundraising committee and at the front desk. Her husband, Stephen, is president of McRae Engineering.

Educated in public schools in Bainbridge, Ga., she earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a law degree from the University of Georgia.

Beyond her children’s schools, McRae listed on her resume other forms of community involvement since she moved here 11 years ago:

▪  Serving on The Methodist Home Board of Trustees.

▪  Co-chair of the advisory board for Our House at Carpentery’s Way Ranch and Arabella.

▪  Served on the finance committee at St. Paul United Methodist Church, where she chaired the stewardship campaign for three years, taught Sunday school and volunteers at the Vacation Bible School.

Her father, Sydney Cochran, has served on the Decatur County Board of Education in Bainbridge for 18 years and is the chairman.

Robinson, 55, has been a juvenile corrections officer at the Aaron Cohn Regional Youth Detention Center in Columbus since January 2015.

According to the bio he emailed the Ledger-Enquirer, Robinson was born and raised in Thomasville. He graduated from Thomas County’s Central High School in 1979, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army and went through basic training at Fort Benning.

He earned the Ranger tab in 1986, attended the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant School and graduated from the U.S. Army First Sergeant’s Course at Fort Bliss, Texas. He completed Airborne School, the U.S. Army Pathfinder Course and Air Assault School. He is a master parachutist and earned the expert infantryman’s badge. He retired with honor from the U.S. Army in 1999 with the rank of first sergeant.

Robinson’s college degrees are all from Troy University, an associate’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in applied science while on active duty and a master’s degree in human resources management after he retired.

From 2008-14, Robinson was the Army JROTC senior instructor at Stewart County High School. From 2007-14, he was an adjunct instructor at the University of Phoenix in Columbus.

Robinson worked for five years in the Columbus Fire & EMS Department. In a resolution from Columbus Council, he was recognized along with the crew of Engine 2 for saving the life of a 5-month-old on Sept. 5, 2000, while responding to a 911 emergency call. Robinson used lifesaving techniques he learned in the EMT program at Columbus Technical College to restore the infant’s breathing.

His community involvement includes being a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., the Georgia Association of Educators, the Disabled American Veterans, the 100 Black Men of Columbus Inc., and First African Baptist Church.

His wife, Cheryl Renee, is a news anchor at WTVM. His son was educated in the Muscogee County School District and graduated from Shaw High School in 2007.

Robinson qualified as a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014. He lost the Democratic primary election in a four-way race to Michelle Nunn.

Taylor, 63, owned and operated an auto body shop before retiring. He attended Jordan High School and earned his diploma from Hallie Turner Private School.

Wadkins, 33, earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and his law degree from the University of Alabama.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 9:33 PM with the headline "School District 5: McRae appears to win race outright."