By Adam Pagnucco.
Of the three school board races this year, the most interesting one is occurring in District 4. (All county voters can vote in all school board races, including those in districts.) The three candidates are two-term incumbent Shebra Evans, conservative author Bethany Mandel and PTA Vice-President Laura Stewart. As challengers, Mandel and Stewart must make the case that the incumbent has committed a firing offense. If they can’t, voters will most likely stick with the incumbent. That’s a basic feature of all races with incumbents in them.
So what are Mandel and Stewart saying at this early point in the race? Let’s start with Mandel, who is getting coverage from national media – which is unprecedented for a school board candidate. The video clip and transcript below come from her interview with Trace Gallagher on Fox News @ Night on Monday. After discussing pronouns for trans students used in California schools, Gallagher pivoted to Mandel’s school board campaign. He read excerpts from her interview in Rolling Stone and asked her to respond. She said:
I mean, there’s so many ways I can go. First of all, I’m coming out on this show as a Democrat. Now all of you know I’ve actually been a registered Democrat since 2021. But it’s a non-partisan race. And it’s a non-partisan issue. The issue in Montgomery County, which is happening all across the country, is that activist school board members have decided to choose their activism over excellence. And they’ve prioritized that activism over excellence. And our kids are suffering. And I think that the powers that be within Montgomery County but also in the wider country are scared that they’re going to be displaced because they’ve had control over school boards across the country and we’re seeing the results. We’re seeing how well they’re doing with our kids. Narrator: it’s not great. And so they’re afraid of some accountability and I’m going to bring it in Montgomery County.
Mandel’s tweet showing the video clip is embedded below.
I was on with @tracegallagher last night talking about why I’m running. pic.twitter.com/O6Cmr626YO
— Bethany Mandel (@Bethany4BOE) February 20, 2024
Now let’s go to Stewart. She held a birthday fundraiser on February 18 and posted an excerpt from her stump speech on Twitter. The transcript and embedded tweet are below.
This is the situation: I was not going to run for the board of ed. At the end of December, I realized my friend Lynne [Harris] got back into the race and I’m like, what am I going to do. I’m vice president of the Free State PTA, which is a statewide organization, I’m doing a lot of good work there. I do good work with WDC [Women’s Democratic Club], I’m like, OK, it’s fine, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. But then something happened: it’s called the OIG [Office of Inspector General] report. And it said that MCPS was not being cooperative. Yeah, no, I’m sorry. That’s it, so after that report, it got my mind turning, and the other report came in about all the issues that were brought to central office and nothing was done. No, I couldn’t take it any longer and I said, you know, I have friends on the board, but it’s time for me to go nudge ‘em.
We did it! We hit 10k in donations. I am completely humbled and look forward to having conversations all across the county! Email the campaign, I’ll come to you. Friends, thanks for the launch — this clip explains why I decided to run for my district seat. #mcps #mdpolitics pic.twitter.com/DKwuvjG5qL
— Laura Stewart 4 BOE (@LauraStewartBoe) February 19, 2024
This is a race with clear choices. Voters who are satisfied with the current state of MCPS should vote for the incumbent. Voters who are not satisfied have two other options. Those who think that the system is in deep trouble because left-wing activism has displaced excellence should vote for Mandel. Those who think that the system is not on fire but could use a “nudge” from an experienced advocate should vote for Stewart. Another factor here is that Mandel is a social conservative who has attacked “woke” advocates and Stewart is a progressive who has supported many county Democrats and has repeatedly pushed for tax increases. Voters who have strong political preferences and learn about these candidates will consider these things when voting.
There is one more factor and it’s a tactical one. It won’t be hard for the county’s relatively small group of informed voters to pick between these candidates. But the electorate in a presidential year is large. In 2020, more than 200,000 people voted for school board in the primary and more than 400,000 voted in the general. And because it’s a non-partisan race, all voters can vote in both the primary and the general. Candidates must have the resources to communicate with all of these people, especially if they lack endorsements from heavy hitters like the Washington Post and the teachers union. Mandel has an advantage here because of her connections in national and state media, even if they’re primarily conservative. She may be an unusual candidate for MoCo, but if she is the only one connecting directly with voters, well… don’t underestimate her.
Only one thing is sure… there will be more to come in this race!