The week before Christmas, County Executive Rushern Baker finally appointed a Board of Education representative to the vacant District 9 seat. As some people may still remember, Donna Hathaway Beck resigned from the BOE in early September.

Baker’s pick is Sonya Williams of Clinton. She is the PTSA president at Gwynn Park High School. I don’t know her personally, but I have heard good things about her.

Of course, the District 9 seat is on the ballot this year. This means that Mrs. Williams will need to enter the June 2014 primary if she wants to retain her BOE seat. I have not heard if Mrs. Williams intends to run, but I have to assume that Baker picked a person who is interested in doing so. Taking more than three months to pick a person and then having her in the seat for less than a year would not make sense.

With all this, the June primary for the District 9 BOE seat will likely be an interesting one. Who else will get in the race? If Mrs. Williams does run, will she be the candidate endorsed by the Senator Miller/Delegate Proctor/Councilman Franklin slate? If Mrs. Williams runs but the incumbent slate’s endorsement goes to someone else, who will prevail?

No matter what happens, I will stick with my September prediction. The endorsement of the incumbent slate is the most significant factor in the primary. Whoever wins that “race” will prevail in June.