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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cheney School Board District 4

Election Results

Candidate Votes Pct
John Boerger 2,230 35.96%
Bill Hanson 2,069 33.37%
Rick Valentine Flynn 1,902 30.67%

* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.

About the Race

The Candidates

John Boerger

Age:
47
City:
Cheney, Washington

Education: Graduated from Cascade High School in Everett in 1995. Graduated from Shoreline Community College in 2000 with an associate degree. Graduated from University of Washington in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and communication. Graduated from Western Governors University with a master’s in education in 2022.

Work experience: Worked in IT at Expedia for six years, working as a senior operations manager for two years. Engineering and product manager at Frontier Communication for five years. Currently a product manager at Microsoft for the last two years.

Political experience: Elected as a Lake Stevens school board member from 2007-21. Co-chair of the Cheney Public Schools long-range facility advisory committee for about six months. Ran unsuccessfully for 44th Legislative District Representative in 2010 as a Democrat.

Family: Married to Jessica Weber. Has two children living on the West Side. Weber has three children, all attending schools in Cheney.

Bill Hanson

Age:
54
City:
Cheney, Washington

Education: Graduated from Altus High School in Oklahoma in 1990. Graduated from Community College of the Air Force in 1996 with an associate degree. Graduated from Southern Nazarene University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership.

Work experience: Served 20 years active duty in the air force. After service, volunteered for five years at elementary school as classroom aid and in athletics. Worked in home health care at Grace Support Services. Works in home services and as driver for Grace Support Services.

Political experience: First run for office.

Family: Married to Shelly Hanson with four children. Two graduated from Cheney, two currently attend a school in the district.

 

 

 

 

 

Rick Valentine Flynn

City:
Cheney, Washington

Education: Graduated from West Craven High School in North Carolina in 1994. Graduated from Oregon State University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and sustainability.

Work experience: Served in the Air Force for eight years. A VA Caregiver for a disabled veteran, an author, and a farmer who has worked in construction, food services, retail, hospitality and retirement management. 

Political experience: Appointed to Spokane County Water Conservancy Board. Lost in primary in 2023 for a seat on the Cheney School Board

Family: Married to Sabrina Flynn. Has two adult children.

 

Complete Coverage

City growth, bond key issues in Cheney school board race between Boerger, Hanson

In one of three contested Cheney School Board races this election, voters will have their pick between an air force veteran and a candidate with 14 years’ experience on a West Side school board. Both have similar perspectives on next year’s bond and Legislative action.

School board races in Spokane, West Valley show victors; Cheney and Deer Park unclear

Spokane School Board President Mike Wiser easily advanced to the November election in Tuesday’s primary and will face Realtor Ericka Lalka.

Three newcomers face off in Cheney School Board primary without an incumbent

Board member Stacy Nicol’s decision not to run again, after serving on the panel since 2015, leaves the seat vacant for one of three candidates: chauffeur for the elderly Bill Hanson, sustainable hydroponic home farmer Rick Flynn and former West side school board member John Boerger.