Trona School Board Vote Spans Two Counties: Heseman, McCullar and Benadom Lead San Bernardino Count

TRONA / SEARLES VALLEY, California — November 4, 2026. Three seats on the Trona Joint Unified School District governing board are on the November 3 ballot. The district crosses a county boundary, so treating the San Bernardino portion as the complete districtwide count could mislead local families.

San Bernardino County portion, 2 a.m.

The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters’ Summary Report #4 lists Cathy Heseman 162 votes, Skylar Wayne McCullar 141, Dennis Gale Benadom 126 and Ahmed Abdel Elhawary 104. That portion reports only one of three precincts in the contest, so its candidate rankings are incomplete.

Inyo County also reports votes

The Inyo County 8 p.m. first mail-ballot report, reproduced by Sierra Wave, lists Heseman 6, McCullar 6, Elhawary 3 and Benadom 2. Those are Inyo-only figures from an earlier reporting time. Do not combine these two differently timed county snapshots and describe the sum as a current certified district total.

What Searles Valley residents should watch

Trona families should follow both San Bernardino and Inyo official election updates. The board makes decisions affecting local schools, budgets and school policy. A final district result requires the properly reconciled votes from all voting areas.

All totals in this report are unofficial election-night snapshots, not certified results. Precincts reporting does not necessarily mean every eligible mail, provisional, or signature-cure ballot has been counted.

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