Hamilton Township's third member elected to the Board of Education Tuesday did it the hard way.
Current board Vice President Mark Ludwick was confirmed as the top vote-getter for write in votes, according to the school district. He received 132 votes.The totals are still unofficial.
Resident Harry Rodgers also had a write-in campaign and received 78 votes.
The 44-year-old Ludwic had originally decided not to run for re-election after serving for four years on the board. Incumbents David May and Michelle Befano had also decided not to run.
There were originally three candidates for the three open seats: Amelia Francis, former Deputy Mayor John Sacchinelli and Anthony Germano Jr. but Germano dropped out because he planned to move out of the state.
Sacchinelli and Francis were elected Tuesday, along with Ludwick.
Ludwick said people had approached him the past two weeks about running as a write-in candidate and helped his campaign by making signs and spreading the word in person and via social media.
"It's hard to get a lot of people to do a write in," he said. "I want to thank everyone who supported me."
Ludwick said he was happy with the original three candidates, but when Germano dropped out he decided to run to make sure there would be three good board members elected.
"I didn't want to leave it to chance," he said.
Ludwick said he will continue to work to make sure the district has balanced budgets and improve student test scores.
"The board as a whole works really well," he said.
Contact Joel Landau:
609-272-7215
Follow Joel Landau on Twitter @landaupressofac
