The election-night party for Terry Bergeson—running for reelection as the Superintendent of Public Instruction—was scheduled to rollick until 11 p.m. last night in the downtown Red Lion. Early results showed Bergeson with a significant lead over her opponents so we were ready to party. But a moment after Lindy West and I stepped into a fluorescently-lit, music-less San Juan room—which, at 9:30 p.m., was filled with silver-haired revelers—we were promptly shown the door. Was it because I’m a high-school drop out, Terry?

Even though we were expelled from the class, nothing could keep us from keeping tabs on Bergeson’s clique. From across the street, Lindy snapped this shot of the celebration wake, which, by 10:15 p.m., had atrophied to only Bergeson (on the left) and her press-bouncing goon, Alex Hays.

Hays told the SECB—in the hallway, because we weren’t allowed to quaff the Ensure smoothies inside—that Bergeson “leads by about 20-points” over opponent Randy Dorn. “This result is a crushing defeat for Randy Dorn and his out-of-state war chest,” said Hays. He added that “Dorn had $200,000 of out of state money.” But PDC records show that Dorn actually had a smaller war chest: $122,000 compared to Bergeson’s “war chest” of $157,000. In fact, Dorn received fewer out-of-state dollars than Bergeson: $3,181 to her $7,575. But, you know, the Bergeson camp isn’t known for its math skills.

Asked why Bergeson was leading despite pushing the controversial WASL tests—a high-stakes graduation requirement—Hays said, “A less vocal population is satisfied with the high standards and accountability.”

Nice spin, Hays, but you haven’t convinced us. Bergeson had only 41 percent of the vote as of this morning. Earning less than 50 percent support in the primary is a bad sign for an incumbent. But it’s a great omen for Dorn. He took 30 percent of the vote and continues on to the general election.

We look forward to Bergeson’s party in November.