No wannabe book banners appear headed to the Conway School Board after Tuesday’s elections.

Ashley Lyon, a former educator and current real-estate agent, defeated Wendy Francis in Zone 2 in Tuesday’s primary and will replace Dr. David Naylor Jr. on the board this month.

Shannan Knudsen and Tyler Moses will face off in a runoff to represent Zone 3 this November. That means current Zone 3 board member Linda Hargis gets eight more months on the board. Knudsen is a certified public accountant and senior financial leader in higher education. Moses owns a small business that provides consulting services and is a former bank examiner with the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Hargis and Naylor were among board members who voted to remove two transgender-themed books from library shelves in 2022. That was the same night they joined a unanimous vote requiring students and others, even those who are transgender, to use school restrooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificate.

Here are complete but unofficial vote totals, according to the Faulkner County Election Commission:

Zone 2:

Ashley Lyon 1,130

Wendy Francis 666

Zone 3:

Shannen Knudsen 599

Tyler W. Moses 486

Brent Luyet 281

Emily Railsback 160

Debra Hale-Shelton reports for the Arkansas Times. She has previously worked for The Associated Press and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A Marked Treean by birth, a Chicagoan by choice, she now lives in…
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