(Atlantic, IA) – A Special Election was held Tuesday, March 31st, for patrons of the Atlantic Community School District. The election was called for by petition, to fill a single, At-Large vacancy seat on the Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education. The vacancy was created earlier this year by the resignation of former Board Member Laura McLean, who, along with her husband, have moved out of the District to eastern Iowa.
The unofficial results of the election show the winner, with 270 votes, was Chase Roller . The numbers show
- Jordan Zarbano with 210 votes (29.91%)
- Chase B. Roller with 270 votes (38.46%), and
- Dianna Blake with 222 votes (31.62%)/
Out of 5,682registered voters, there were 706 ballots cast (12.43%) and 702 eligible votes (Counted) during the March 31st Special Election.
The election marked Jordan Zarbano’s second attempted at being elected to the Board. He previously was candidate for the election that was held November 4 2025. That race, where two seats were up for grabs, was ultimately won by Chet Meneely and incumbent Josh McLaren. After Tuesday’s election results were announced, candidate Dianna Blake congratulated Roller on his win.
On her social media page, Blake said (In-part), “To everyone who supported me – thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Your belief in me means everything. Of course, this isn’t the outcome I hoped for. I think the fact that I lost by only 48 votes and how close we all were in numbers says something. I also think the lack of total votes is something we need to discuss, especially since everyone was very loud 6 weeks ago. We have far too many registered voters for this low of a turn out.”
She said also, that her students inspired her to run, and that she hopes she made them proud. With regard to the school board seat, she doesn’t need it “To keep advocating for kids, teachers, and staff. So I’ll still be here. Still listening. Still speaking up. Still doing the work. And likely still annoying some of you because of all of the above.”
