The 2025 Highline School District Board of Directors election has drawn eight candidates vying for four director positions in Districts 2, 3, 4, and 5.
The Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 5, with the top two vote-getters moving on to the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
NOTE: Links for each candidate are to their profiles on the King County Elections website.
*denotes incumbent
Director District No. 2:
- Sue-Ann Hohimer: Deputy Mayor of Normandy Park, who has served on its city council since 2017. Hohimer held the position of Mayor from 2020 to 2023 and was elected Deputy Mayor in January 2024. She is not running for reelection to the Normandy Park City Council.
- Angelica M. Alvarez*: Elected to the school board in 2009, and has represented Director District No. 2 since then. Alvarez held the position of board president from December 2019 until at least early 2021.
Director District No. 3:
- Joe Van*: Van is the current board president and represents District 3. A 1995 graduate of Tyee High School, he holds a degree in Administration of Justice from Highline College and is a graduate of the Des Moines Police Reserves Academy.
- Katie Kresly: Serves on the district’s Capital Facilities Advisory Committee (CFAC), where she was selected by lottery in 2023 to represent the Tyee service area. EDITOR’S NOTE: As Kresly is both a candidate and a contributor to a local opinion website, we hope she will consider stepping back from covering School Board matters during the election to avoid any perceived conflict of interest.
Director District No. 4:
- Damarys Espinoza*: Appointed to the board in April 2025, Espinoza brings over 20 years of experience as an educator and organizational leader, focusing on public health, equity, and systems change.
- Ken Kemp: He was among the finalists considered for appointment to the board earlier in the year, following the resignation of a board member.
- Shirley-Nita Enninful: Currently serves as a Senior Manager of Quality at Plymouth Housing, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing permanent supportive housing for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Director District No. 5:
- Blaine Holien: Appointed to the board in April 2025, Holien is a first-generation college graduate with a background in political science and economics from the University of Washington.
As part of our award-winning ongoing local political coverage, The B-Town Blog will be reaching out to each candidate to ask what their top priorities are, and how they intend to address Highline Public Schools’ most pressing challenges. Candidate responses will be published in the coming weeks to help inform voters ahead of the Aug. 5 2025 Primary Election.
For more information on the candidates and their platforms, residents are encouraged to visit the official King County Elections website here.
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