by Benjamin Yount
A lot of Wisconsin parents are not happy with their local school boards. Conservative and Republicans candidates for school boards did well in their races Tuesday, many of them new challengers who unseated longtime incumbents.
“Last night was a great night for parents looking to take back control of their children’s education and for liberty-oriented candidates generally,” Eric Bott with Americans for Prosperity in Wisconsin told the Center Square.
The Wisconsin Republican Party said party-backed and conservative candidates won two-thirds of the races where they were active.
“Conservatives fought and won across the state, including in swing and deep blue areas,” Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Paul Farrow said Wednesday. “We are proud of the slate of conservative candidates who stepped up to the plate across Wisconsin, as they’ve proven that when we stand up and fight back against the far-left takeover of our local governments, we win.”
In southeast Wisconsin, conservative candidates won all of their school board races in Waukesha, New Berlin, and Cedarburg. Conservatives also did well in the Fox Valley and in northeast Wisconsin.
But it was not a total victory. Three conservative candidates for school board in Eau Claire failed to win.
Challengers Nicole Everson, Melissa Winter, and Corey Cronrath lost by at least 1,000 votes each. The three gained national attention for publicly criticizing Eau Claire School’s policy that states parents have to “earn” the right to know their child’s gender at school.
Progressive and liberal candidates also did very well in Dane County, while Milwaukee remained a deep-blue city.
Still, conservatives are optimistic heading into the November election.
“Last night proved that our grassroots operation is battle-tested and well-positioned to carry this momentum into November,” Farrow said.
“Conservatives have momentum heading into November but it’s premature to call it a red-wave,” Bott added. “Hard work and grassroots activism catapulted many candidates to victory last night. Conservatives will need to up their ground game to repeat these victories in the fall.”
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Benjamin Yount contributes to The Center Square.
Photo “Eric Bott” by Eric Bott.
