Sheila Jakubik and Christina Wakefield will remain in the running for a seat on the Bainbridge Island School Board.

In the first vote tally announced on Election Night, Jakubik was leading Wakefield and Jesse Burns in the three-way race.

And in the second vote count Wednesday, Jakubik stayed in front with 51.4 percent of all ballots cast, while Wakefield collected 28.1 percent.

Burns was still trailing in third place, with 20.4 percent of the initial vote tally.

The top two candidates will advance to November’s General Election.

The actual vote count late Wednesday: 2,280 for Jakubik; 1,246 votes for Wakefield; and 905 votes for Burns.

Jakubik, 49, the current school board president, is running for a second term.

In the lead-up to Tuesday’s primary, Jakubik said her experience would be a key element in her ability to work with the board in the coming term.

Burns, 39, is a Harvard-educated strategy consultant who grew up on the island and graduated from Bainbridge High. Burns recently moved back to his hometown with his wife and two children and is looking to bring his professional experience working with schools to the board table.

Wakefield, 40, is the mother of a first-grader in the Bainbridge Island School District. She has worked as an adviser for global health with the Manoff Group, a team leader with USAID and as a research associate with the World Health Organization.

Jakubik said she was thankful for the support of the islanders.

“I am grateful for the level of support from the community and I am excited to move on to the general election in November,” Jakubik said.

Jakubik also said that the next few months hold some important decisions for the school board.

“We have important issues in the coming months including the new budget from the state; the possible relocation of the programs housed in the Commodore building; and our capital projects,” Jakubik said.

“I will continue to serve all 3,700 students in our district by working to maintain and improve our excellent programs while balancing the fiscal health of the district,” she said. “I am proud of the work I have done on the school board and it would be an honor to continue to serve for another term.”

Wakefield said she was excited to stay in the running, but she was also quick to emphasize the fact that it’s not all about her.

“It’s a really incredible opportunity and I feel really excited that what I had to say resonated with enough people that — even without knowing me or having a lot of public opportunities to speak with people — I was able to move on and get that opportunity,” Wakefield said.

When asked about her strategy to get more voters in her favor before November, Wakefield said that she’s not too keen on self-promotion and that she hopes to strike a balance between getting her message out to the public while not making it all about herself.

“Really, the reasons that I’m running are to push the vision of the school district to be as innovative and interesting and responsive to our student population needs as possible,” Wakefield said. “It’s not about me winning.”

“I think part of that is just making sure that I create and find opportunities to talk to people,” she added.

Wakefield said she would also support Jakubik if she keeps her board seat in November.

“I would be super excited to support her in doing her job, should she keep it. I would also be really excited to take over the seat and see what I would be able to do with it,” Wakefield said.

Wakefield said she’s encouraged Burns to continue to remain active with the school board.

“I hope he stays involved in the conversation and helps either Sheila or me and the rest of the board keep thinking about the things he cares about,” she said.

Wakefield also said that she felt some trepidation about running against Burns, someone she counts as a friend, but, she added, “At the end of the day I think this whole thing is about pushing the conversation around the vision of education and how we’re serving our community and our kids in the best possible way.”

“For me — and I think for Jesse, too — it’s not about our individual voices. It’s about the voice in general being one of visionary progress.”