Curtis Campogni will join the Pinellas County School Board after incumbent Dawn Peters dropped out of a recount she was entitled to under state law.

Peters told the county elections office on Wednesday, Nov. 4, that she would not contest the results, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office said Peters confirmed her decision in writing, Tampa Bay 28 reported.

The move cancelled what would have been a mandatory machine recount. Campogni led Peters by 712 of 350,156 votes cast, a margin of about 0.2%. State law requires a recount when the margin falls below 0.5% unless the trailing candidate backs out.

The elections office contacted Campogni around 11 a.m. Wednesday to inform him of the change, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Peters did not respond to the Tampa Bay Times' requests for comment. Tampa Bay 28 also reported it had not heard back from Peters.

A 14,000-vote swing

Four years ago, Peters won the countywide at-large District 3 seat by more than 14,000 votes. This time, she lost 53 precincts she had carried in her first campaign, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

One factor: Tarpon Springs. Peters led her 2022 opponent there by 2,158 votes. This year she trailed in every Tarpon Springs precinct, losing the city by 450 votes. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Peters' handling of residents' concerns over school closing proposals angered many in Tarpon Springs.

Pinellas voters also trended more Democratic across the board in 2026, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Peters had run as a conservative outsider supporting parental rights and the Moms for Liberty agenda in 2022. Campogni had backing from several left-leaning and moderate groups.

What comes next

Campogni, 42, works in social services for youths and was born and raised in Clearwater. He and his wife adopted two children through the Florida foster care system, according to WUSF. He has worked with at-risk youth in Pinellas and across central Florida for 15 years, WUSF reported.

He said one of his first priorities will be visiting schools, according to Tampa Bay 28.

"The first thing I'm going to do is visit these schools, visit these communities and gain a real understanding of the people behind the data," Campogni said, according to Tampa Bay 28.

He takes office Nov. 17. The board faces major decisions on school closures and consolidation as the district grapples with declining enrollment. District officials have said Pinellas County Schools has about 45,000 empty seats countywide, and student population dropped by about 3,800 last year, according to Tampa Bay Times reporting from August.

Pinellas County parent Stacie Gaffrey told Tampa Bay 28 she wants the board to ask harder questions before making those decisions.

"The school board really should be asking these tough questions upfront for us," Gaffrey said. "They're here to represent us and if they're not asking the questions, how do they expect us to know these questions to ask?"

Campogni said in a candidate questionnaire that in his first year he would push the board to talk directly with families who left for private, charter or homeschool options and ask why they left. He also called for competitive teacher pay and clearer criteria around teacher non-renewals.

New board members are scheduled to be sworn in Nov. 17.