The latest Inweekly/Political Matrix poll shows the Escambia County school board candidates have begun to separate themselves, but more than a third of the likely voters still don’t know them.
District 1 Incumbent Kevin Adams has slightly increased his lead over Marjorie White since the poll conducted in early June, 34.4%-20.5 %, with 45% either not knowing the candidates or undecided.
In the District 2, Kells Hetherington has jumped into the lead with 25% of the respondents. Ray Guillory and Paul Festko, Superintendent Malcolm Thomas’ former Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction, are battling it out to make a runoff in the non-partisan race, 16.6%-15.6%. Nearly 43% of the voters either did not know the candidates or were undecided.
The District 3 has changed since early June with Clinton Powell withdrawing and former School Board member Linda Moultrie failing to qualify. If the primary were held today, Larry Williams (26.6%) and Laura Elder (17.6%) would face each other in a runoff. Walker Wilson is within striking distance with 10.4%. Lee Hansen, who was appointed to the post by Gov. Rick Scott last December, trails the field with 7.6%. Over third of the votes either did not know the candidates or were undecided.
| District 1 | July 21-22 | June 6-7 | Difference |
| Kevin Adams | 34.4% | 25.4% | 9.0% |
| Marjorie White | 20.5% | 13.0% | 7.5% |
| I do not know these candidates | 42.2% | 47.2% | 12.0% |
| Undecided | 2.8% | 14.5% | -11.7% |
| District 2 | July 21-22 | June 6-7 | Difference |
| Kells Hetherington | 25.0% | 2.5% | 22.5% |
| Ray Guillory | 16.6% | 8.6% | 8.0% |
| Paul Fetsko | 15.6% | 4.6% | 11.0% |
| I do not know these candidates | 39.2% | 74.8% | -35.6% |
| Undecided | 3.6% | 9.5% | -5.9% |
| District 3 | July 21-22 | June 6-7 | Difference |
| Larry Williams Sr. | 26.6% | 3.6% | 23.0% |
| Laura Edler | 17.6% | 1.7% | 15.9% |
| Walker Wilson | 10.4% | 3.8% | 6.6% |
| Lee Hansen | 7.6% | 4.6% | 3.0% |
| I do not know any of these candidates. | 33.3% | 34.5% | -1.2% |
| Undecided | 4.6% | 27.8% | -22.5% |
The persons sampled were likely voters of the primary and general election cycles and were called using an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system during the hours of 2-8 p.m. July 21-22. The phone numbers called were provided by Escambia Supervisor of Elections Office. The Margin of Error for this study is +/- 4.5% with a confidence level of 95%.