LOCAL ELECTIONS / COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD : Primrose and McCormick Win, but One Race Is Close : Officials must still count 18,000 ballots, which could affect a 78-vote lead newcomer Felix Rocha Jr. holds over incumbent Roger W. Belgen.

With a sizable chunk of absentee ballots still uncounted, the win-lose tally that emerged Wednesday from the race for three seats on the County Board of Education was two for the newcomers, one for the incumbents.

Even considering 18,000 uncounted absentee ballots, results appeared firm in two of the races: Joan S. Primrose ousted incumbent Francis X. Hoffman in Trustee Area 3, and incumbent Dean McCormick fended off two challengers in Trustee Area 4.

But the third contest featured such a razor-thin margin that the outcome may not be known for up to a week while absentee votes are hand-counted. In Trustee Area 1, newcomer Felix Rocha Jr. held a 78-vote lead over incumbent Roger W. Belgen in the unofficial final count.

The most decisive victory in Tuesday night’s contests belonged to Primrose, a career teacher who did no campaigning, save for dozens of phone calls to fellow teachers. The unofficial results--not counting the absentees--showed Primrose with 37% of the vote in Trustee Area 3, followed by Arlene Z. Sontag with 22.9%, Hoffman with 19.7% and Curtis E. Smith with 19.6%.

“This shows a vote of confidence for classroom teachers, who are often blamed for the sorry state of education in California,” Primrose said. “It also confirms my belief that voters are in support of these teachers and they feel it’s a top-heavy administrative structure.”

Hoffman--who has represented the region that includes parts of the Anaheim, Centralia, Magnolia and Buena Park districts for eight years--was upbeat about his loss.

“I want to thank Miss Primrose for beating me,” he said, laughing. “Sometimes this is a real thankless job. It can be frustrating.”

McCormick, who represents areas in the north, east and south of the county, won by a smaller margin. He took 37.7% of the vote, James P. Aynes polled 31.4% and Todd Henry 29.9%.

The closest contest came in Trustee Area 1, which includes parts of Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Fountain Valley. Rocha won 15,900 votes, or 33.8%, followed by Belgen, who had 15,822 votes, or 33.6%. Challenger Richard F. Avard came in third with 14,494 votes, or 30.8%.

Both Rocha and Belgen were cautiously optimistic Wednesday about the outcome.

“We feel good about it, but it’s such a narrow margin,” said Rocha, who helped organize a successful effort to oust Belgen and two colleagues from their seats on the Fountain Valley school board two years ago only to face Belgen again in the county board race.

Belgen said he was never certain that he would win, given the unpredictability of voter sentiment. But win or lose, he said, voters will have their say.

“People need to decide what they want,” he said. “We’ll go from there.”