Kuna School Board trustee Michael Law held on to his his seat in the face of a recall election Tuesday.

Complete, unofficial elections results in Ada and Canyon counties showed 71.7 percent of voters opposed the effort to recall Law, first elected in May 2013. Shortly after 10 p.m., final returns showed 165 voters were against recalling Law, while 65 voters favored the recall.

“It looks like seriously an overwhelming kind of supermajority in my favor,” Law said Tuesday night. “What I’m hoping for, with the levy business behind us and with the recall business behind us, is to get back to work.”

Law, who represents Zone Four, was the target of a recall petition launched by residents who were angered that he opposed a $6.38 million levy that was defeated in March. Voters approved an identical levy May 20, but the recall went forward and Law decided to fight it rather than resign his post.

Law said his decision to oppose the levy came down to balancing the district’s wants vs. needs. Noting that 44 percent of the students received free or reduced lunch during the 2012-13 school year, Law said many of the residents could not afford to pay for the levy, which is why he broke from others on the board who supported the levy.

“It’s just asinine,” Law said “If we had that standard (of supporting the majority) for every elected official, Democrats in the Legislature would have to get on board with whatever the Legislature is doing and you lose the voice of the minority.”

The statement from opponents appearing on Tuesday’s ballot read, in part “Mr. Law does not represent the views of the patrons in Kuna Joint School District No. 3 Trustee Zone Four concerning the direction the schools should be going.”

Recall organizer Terri Reno, who has a grandchild attending the district, became active in the campaign after the initial levy failed in March. Leading up to the election, she focused on calling residents and reminding them to get out and vote.

She emphasized that the recalls effort is “political, not personal.”

“I just hope the best thing happens for the school district,” Reno said.

For the recall to succeed, a majority of voters would have had to support it.

Law’s term runs through May 2017.

Follow Idaho Education News all night for updated Election Day results from Kuna’s recall vote and the West Ada School District’s bond issue.