Challenger Felita Kealing led incumbent Kimberly Kenne by 757 votes in unofficial early returns for the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education District 1 seat after polls closed Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Kealing had 3,119 votes, or 56.91 percent, to Kenne's 2,362 votes, or 43.09 percent, according to Pasadena Now, which reported the figures from the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. The Pasadena Star-News also reported Kealing leading by about 14 percentage points.

Those tallies reflect the registrar's count as of 3:11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4. They are not final.

Ballots still being counted

The L.A. County Registrar-Recorder's election results page listed its status as "election night tally in progress." The registrar scheduled a count update for Wednesday afternoon, according to Pasadena Now. Early results included vote-by-mail ballots received before Election Day, vote center ballots cast before Election Day and Election Day ballots transported after vote centers closed, according to the Star-News.

Vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day will be counted if they arrive by Nov. 10, Pasadena Now reported. L.A. County is scheduled to certify results Nov. 27, according to Pasadena Now. The certified results are scheduled to be declared to the PUSD Board of Education on Dec. 7, according to Altadena Now.

Counties must report an estimate of remaining unprocessed ballots to the California Secretary of State by Nov. 5, according to Pasadena Now. No outcome has been called by election officials, and the race has not been certified.

The candidates

Kenne has held the District 1 seat since 2011. She won re-election in 2013, 2017 and 2022, according to Pasadena Now's profile of the incumbent. In her most recent race she received 3,400 votes, or 56 percent, in a three-way contest, according to results compiled by the Pasadena City Clerk. A retired systems integration professional, Kenne holds a business degree from Georgetown University and helped found the Parent Education Network, a group focused on family engagement in local public schools.

Kealing is an Altadena resident and longtime PUSD employee whose family home was destroyed in the January 2025 Eaton Fire, according to Altadena Now. A PUSD graduate and parent of two PUSD graduates, she works as an assistant coordinator of marketing, student recruitment and community relations at Thurgood Marshall Secondary School, according to public and campaign records cited by Altadena Now.

The Star-News reported that Kealing said on election night she was "shocked and happy" at the early results while acknowledging that things could still change. The Star-News reported Kenne could not immediately be reached for comment.

What the board controls

The District 1 seat represents northwest Altadena on the seven-member PUSD Board of Education. The board hires and fires the superintendent, sets district-wide policies, approves textbooks and curriculum, and votes on school consolidations or closures, according to LAist. Board members serve four-year terms with no term limits. The part-time positions carry a $4,800 annual stipend, according to Altadena Now.

The race is decided by plurality vote, meaning the candidate with the most votes wins even without a majority.

What's at stake

The board approved $24.5 million in budget cuts in November 2025 that eliminated librarians, teachers, gardeners and school office staff, according to Pasadena Now. Enrollment has fallen roughly 23 percent over the past decade to approximately 13,228 students, according to district figures cited by Altadena Now.

A school consolidation effort divided the community and stalled after the board voted not to accept a draft equity impact analysis, the Pasadena Star-News reported. Kenne voted for both the budget cuts and a "District Transformation Process" that could lead to school consolidations, according to Altadena Now. Kealing wrote in an LAist candidate survey that she would have voted against both, according to Pasadena Now.

District 1 is one of three contested PUSD board seats on the Nov. 3 ballot. Voters can track updated results at results.lavote.gov.