Matt Geiger and Mollyana Ward will face each other Nov. 3 for the Pasco County School Board District 3 seat, after finishing first and second in the five-candidate primary on Tuesday, Aug. 18, with no one clearing the 50% threshold needed to win outright.

Geiger, an educator with nearly 30 years of experience who serves as school director at Benfica Residential Academy at St. Leo, led the field with 28.8% of the vote, according to results reported by the Hernando Sun. Ward, a real estate broker and co-founder of Icemann Development whose three sons graduated from Wesley Chapel high schools, took 21.1%.

Preschool teacher Erin Stroupe finished third at 19%, missing the runoff by roughly 1,500 votes out of more than 76,000 cast in the District 3 race. Sean O'Flannery, a 30-year classroom educator and Marine Corps Reserve veteran, earned 17.3%. Dr. Kirk Phillips, who loaned his own campaign about $50,000, finished last at 13.8%.

Unofficial results from the Pasco County Supervisor of Elections showed 86,103 total ballots cast countywide out of 400,459 registered voters, for a turnout of 21.5% with all 122 precincts reporting. That trails the 24.8% turnout in the August 2022 primary.

What's at stake for Wesley Chapel

The winner replaces Cynthia Armstrong, who held the District 3 seat for 16 years before announcing she would not seek reelection. While District 3 covers Holiday, Odessa, Trinity and parts of New Port Richey, all registered Pasco voters cast ballots in the nonpartisan race.

Geiger has specifically named the east-west capacity imbalance as a priority. In a candidate Q&A published Aug. 17, he wrote that funding should prioritize the classroom first, and that he supports "auditing current spending to eliminate waste and administrative bloat" while addressing overcrowding at Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass schools versus underutilized facilities in western Pasco.

Ward, who received more outside contributions than any other candidate in the race, has expressed skepticism about the district's upcoming property tax referendum for teacher pay. "We have to be able to find the money to pay the teachers without an additional tax. Maybe I'm being naive, but I have to believe that there's a way," she said in the same Q&A.

Big decisions ahead

The new board member will join a district that earned its first overall A grade from the state in more than a decade during the 2025-26 school year, according to Tampa Bay Times reporting. But challenges loom: the board faces decisions on student screen-time policy, artificial intelligence rules, enrollment declines driven by shrinking birth rates and rising participation in education alternatives, and potential school closures or mergers.

A November property tax referendum for teacher and staff pay will also appear on the same ballot as the Geiger-Ward runoff.

Geiger managed his first-place finish despite spending far less than either Phillips or Ward. He previously challenged Armstrong for the District 3 seat in 2022, earning 42% in that head-to-head race.

The Nov. 3 general election will decide who takes the seat.