BRADENTON -- Incumbent Bob Gause was re-elected to his District 4 seat on the Manatee County School Board Tuesday.

Gause defeated Linda Schaich with 22,325 votes, or 56.3 percent of the 39,647 votes cast in the race.

"I appreciated all the trust everyone put in me," said Gause, who will be starting his third four-year term on the school board. "I'm humbled by it."

He said he was happy he was re-elected because there was still more work to do.

The school district is in a strong financial position going into the new year, Gause said.

"We have a small surplus," said the landscape architect who co-owns an engineering, planning and landscape architecture firm.

With the retirement of Harry Kinnan, the makeup of the school board will be very different.

Several key votes had Gause, Kinnan and Barbara Harvey voting as a block, and board members Julie Aranibar and Karen Carpenter in the minority.

The winner of the District 2 seat that Kinnan held will be decided in a Nov. 6 runoff election between Dave "Watchdog" Miner and Robert Moates.

Gause said he could work with either candidate.

"It's all about discussing ideas, debating their merits, voting on them, and as a team moving forward to implement them," he said.

Schaich said she was pleased with how much support she received considering this was her first try at public office.

She received 17,322 votes, or 43.7 percent of the votes cast for that position.

"The incumbent has an advantage," the former business owner said, "but I gave him a good run and put up a good fight."

Schaich, who served on several school district committees and was a regular attendee of board meetings, said she will continue to be involved.

School Board - Dist 4

As for who she will support in the run-off election, Schaich said she was not sure.

"Either one will do a great job," she said.

Schaich also was not sure whether she would seek office again.

"Not likely," she said, "but I said the same thing before this election."