For a variety of reasons, we are in the midst of the most fascinating school board election in Livingston County history.
Back in the good old days, a couple decades ago or so, school board elections in Livingston County and Michigan were a much different animal.
Back then, school board elections were always held in June and turnout was next to nothing – maybe 10 percent, if we were lucky. There was occasionally a hotly contested election, but these were usually boring elections with almost nobody paying attention.
Except the teachers unions. Because so few people voted, the Michigan Education Association and its affiliates were largely able to control how things went. They would interview all the candidates, they would decide which ones would be the most union-friendly, and then they’d tell all their people to get out and vote for them.
Because you could win an election with only a few hundred votes, it usually worked. The school boards were always packed with union-friendly members and the result wasn’t always good for taxpayers.
In the late 2000s, though, the State of Michigan changed things. A law was passed that moved school board elections to November, to the general election, and now the school board candidates are on the same ballot as presidential and gubernatorial candidates.
So while the unions lost a lot of their power to stack the school boards with their people, we didn’t see a huge uptick in interest in these elections.
Until this year.
This is not a local phenomenon; it’s a national one. School board elections across the country have become wildly contested affairs this year, primarily due to parent outrage over everything from mask mandates and school shutdowns to curriculum, gender and race teachings.
And Livingston County is smack dab in the middle of all this. Which is making this the most fascinating school board election in Livingston County history.
Well, one caveat. This is true in Brighton, Hartland, Howell and Pinckney. It’s not necessarily true in the Fowlerville Community Schools district. While there is a packed ballot of candidates there, it seems like Fowlerville has largely avoided the rancor that we’ve been in the other four districts.
So when I talk about how fascinating and even contentious this election is, I’m mainly talking about Brighton, Hartland, Howell and Pinckney.
In each of those districts, there are primarily two slates of candidates. One slate in each district has been endorsed by the Livingston County Republican Party, which is an extraordinary development in and of itself. School board elections are technically supposed to be nonpartisan, and this is the first time I can ever remember official endorsements by a county party.
Most of these people are non-incumbents. And depending on where you sit, they’re either far-right wackos or concerned parents and community members who think that “woke” indoctrination has gotten way out of hand.
On the other side are the slates of incumbents that have been endorsed by the MEA, which some will say is the same thing as being endorsed by the Democratic Party.
And again, depending on where you sit, these people are either woke, liberal, union puppets or concerned parents and community members who just want great schools.
It’s important to note that each of these candidates most likely actively sought these endorsements. They’re choosing to align themselves with either the Republican Party or the MEA. I’m not aware of a single candidate in either slate that has disavowed the endorsement.
It’s ALSO important to note that there are a few candidates who are not part of EITHER slate, including several candidates in Hartland.
And In the Howell Public Schools, incumbent Brent Earl is running for re-election and he’s not part of either slate. For what it’s worth, Brent Earl is a friend of mine and since I live in Howell now, I’m planning on voting for him. Please don’t hold that against him.
Now, in case you’re wondering who these people are and which side they’re lining up on, here you go. Here are the candidates in each of those four school districts and who’s endorsing them.
BRIGHTON AREA SCHOOLS
Endorsed by the Livingston County GOP
Jennifer Marks
Andy Storm
Kelli Uphaus
Endorsed by the MEA
Angela Krebs
Kenneth Stahl
Lyndsay Wing
HARTLAND COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Endorsed by the Livingston County GOP
Michelle Blondeel
Glenn Gogolewski
Greg Keller
Bob Merwin
Endorsed by the MEA
Victor Bugni
Edward Gentile
Meghan Glabach
Michelle Hemeyer
HOWELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Endorsed by the Livingston County GOP
Charlie Abersaturi
Jason Bedford
Meg Marhofer
Endorsed by the MEA
Christy Conn
Tracy Flak
Grace Trudell
PINCKNEY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Endorsed by the Livingston County GOP
Jessica Barefield
Stephanie Johnson
Anna Rene LaVasseur
Endorsed by the MEA
Michelle Crampo
Gayle Horn
Bill Wearne
Now, I personally know very few of these people, so I’m not in any position to offer my opinion as to whether they’e good, bad, crazy or otherwise. (I will say, as someone who did it once himself, I applaud anyone who runs for office.)
But it’s remarkable and noteworthy that in every district, we have two distinct slates of candidates. We’ve had slates in the past, but nothing like this – two very distinct slates in every single district.
It’s also noteworthy to watch the ways in which they’ve been campaigning. With only a few exceptions, the Republican-endorsed candidates have ignored most of the traditional attempts by the media and other groups to get them to engage.
The Livingston Post sent out candidate questionnaires to all of the candidates, and most of the GOP-endorsed candidates did not respond. The League of Women Voters did the same and got the same non-response. Same with the Livingston Daily Press & Argus.
There have been a few exceptions (Anna Rene LaVasseur in Pinckney took part in the LWV online candidate forum, for example, and a few GOP-endorsed candidates responded to the Post and Livingston Daily).
I can only assume that most of the candidates who didn’t participate likely feel that the LWV and the local media outlets are left-leaning and thus not supportive of their candidacies, but that’s only speculation.
Whatever the reason, it’s one more reason that this school board election is unlike any we’ve ever seen before. I can never remember candidates ignoring the local media outlets en masse like this before.
As for what’s going to happen and who’s going to win, I have no damn idea. I have a prediction for almost every other election in Livingston County and Michigan, but I have no clue who’s going to win these races. I have no historical frame of reference to rely on. This is all so new.
What I DO know is this: Whatever happens, future candidates will likely be paying attention. If the GOP-backed candidates win, they’ll know that their strategies worked. Same thing if the MEA-backed ones win. Or the independents.
I have a feeling that we won’t be seeing many split-slate voting. Either most of each slate will win in each district, or most of each slate will lose.
One more reason that we’ll be hitting the “refresh” button a lot on Election Night.
