John Ashmead, Deb Etienne and Todd Nollenberger (from left) won Tuesday's Richfield school board election. A $20 million school levy was defeated by 252 votes.

Newcomers John Ashmead and Deb Etienne were the top two vote getters Tuesday among 15 candidates for three school board seats. Incumbent Todd Nollenberger retained his seat, but School Board Chair Peter Toensing lost his, finishing fourth. The other current board member, Tom Flood, decided not to run for another term.

Unofficially, 4,586 votes were cast in the school levy referendum. The measure, which would have increased property taxes in the district by $2 million a year, lost by 252 votes out of 4.586 cast.

Ashmead, a retired St. Paul elementary school principal, and Etienne, a manager with Delta Airlines, both are longtime Richfield residents whose children attended public schools. 

Just 23 percent of the Richfield's 19,868 registered voters turned out for Tuesday's election.

Here are the results:

* Incumbent