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Prince George's County's youth movement made a strong showing in the county school board elections as Edward Burroughs III, 18, defeated a retired teacher and principal to earn a board seat while David Murray, 18, nearly defeated an incumbent.

Burroughs, of Camp Springs, beat out challenger Steven Morris, 59, of Fort Washington, a retired teacher, assistant principal and acting principal, for the District 8 seat.

With 91 percent of the ballots counted, Burroughs received 58.06 percent of the vote, while Morris received 41.75 percent of the vote, according to Maryland State Board of Elections unofficial poll results for the general election.

Burroughs said Tuesday night that he's humbled.

"They were able to look beyond something like age and look at what's best for the district," Burroughs said.

Burroughs, who was the youngest school board member ever to serve on the Prince George's County Board of Education as a student member -- elected at age 15 and sworn in at age 16 -- served two one-year terms on the board, from 2008 to 2010.

Burroughs is a 2010 graduate of Crossland High School in Temple Hills and a freshman at Bowie State University.

District 1 board member Rosalind Johnson staved off the challenge of Murray, an 18-year-old college student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a graduate of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt.

With 90.6 percent of the ballots counted, Johnson received 51.06 percent of the vote, while Murray received 48.66 percent of the vote, according to Maryland State Board of Elections unofficial poll results for the general election. The two were separated by 411 votes (8,749 to 8,338) as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Johnson, of Laurel, spent 30 years as a teacher prior to her election in 2006, while Murray, of Bowie, spent last school year as the student member of the state's Board of Education.

This is the first year Prince George's County voters selected school board members that represent each of the county's nine legislative districts. Previously, the nine members represented one of five administrative districts or held one of four at-large seats.

All of the nine seats up for election are contested.

Overall, four of the five incumbents secured their seats in Tuesday's general election.

The one incumbent losing her seat was Pat Fletcher of Landover, who fell to Carolyn Boston of Fairmount Heights in the District 6 race. With 90.9 percent of ballots counted as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Boston had 70.2 percent of the vote to Fletcher's 29.57 percent, 17,002 to 7,162.

In District 2, Peggy Higgins of Greenbelt beat challenger Mark Cook of College Park to replace board member Heather Iliff, a College Park resident who chose not to run after a single four-year term.

Higgins received 9,872 votes, while Cook received 4,767 votes, according to Maryland State Board of Elections unofficial poll results for the general election.

"To have the opportunity to affect the lives of so many children and families in our county is really a good gift," Higgins said Tuesday night.

In the District 3 school board race, incumbent board member Amber Waller (Dist. 3) of Hyattsville has also campaigned heavily in favor of strengthening ties with community groups as businesses.

Waller received 5,882 votes, beating out Coleman, who received 3,584 votes.

Patricia Eubanks of Chapel Oaks and Aimee Olivo of Cheverly competed in a close District 4 school board race to replace former board member Linda Thornton Thomas, who resigned in July to make an unsuccessful run for county Circuit Court clerk.

Eubanks leads Olivo marginally; 8,742 compared to 8,510 votes, with 91.2 percent of the ballots counted as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.

In District 5, challenger Sharon Theodore-Lewis could not unseat board chairwoman Verjeana Jacobs. Jacobs received 18,056 votes, while Theodore-Lewis had 11,482 votes.

In the District 7 school board race, former parent liaison and PTA president Henry Armwood Jr. led opponent Lykisha Perkins with 54.01 percent of votes, while Perkins was behind with 45.53 percent of votes.

Both Armwood and Perkins are of Capitol Heights.

In the District 9 school board race, incumbent Donna Hathaway Beck, an at-large member of the county's board of education since 2006, beat challenger George Mitchell, both of Upper Marlboro, with 23,190 votes, compared to Mitchell's 6,784 votes.

eskalski@gazette.net.