Dan Ryan, director of development at Portland State, has won a seat on the Portland School District Board of Directors, receiving 50.65 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results.
Ryan, who raised eyebrows for raising nearly $55,000 for his campaign, easily beat his closest competitors for the Zone 4 director post, former school board member Steve Buel and PSU student Charles McGee III.
Three positions on the board that oversees Oregon’s largest school district were chosen in a May 17 election that saw only a 17 percent voter turnout. The other two winners were Sonja Henning and Trudy Sargent. All three victors received endorsements as well as financial and volunteer support from Stand for Children and For Our Children’s Future, according to The Oregonian.
Though the board positions are elected at large, each position represents a specific zone in the city. Ryan will replace Derry Jackson, who did not run for re-election, in representing North Portland and parts of Northeast Portland.
Sargent will replace Julia Brim-Edwards in the Zone 6 position, which represents Southeast Portland. Henning will replace Lolenzo Poe in representing Northeast Portland’s Zone 5.
As a board member, Ryan said he wants to work to connect to students with “talented and passionate teachers” by reducing teacher paperwork and to promote early childhood development programs.
“Teaching is an action sport,” Ryan said.
As director of development at PSU, Ryan works on fundraising campaigns for the university, such as the “Building our Future” campaign to attract $100 million in donations to Portland State. He said he plans to continue his work at PSU while serving on the school board.
Ryan said he appreciated the support of the Portland State community while running for office.
“After thanking my family last night, my second group of thank-yous was to PSU,” he said.