(The Center Square) – Washington state Republicans' focus on school board races across Washington state in advance of Tuesday’s general election produced mixed results in early returns.
This year’s general election marked the second time in which GOP leadership focused on school district contests across the state.
Based on Tuesday night’s initial election results, 46 of the 84 candidates who received support in terms of coaching, networking, and in some cases, financial assistance are likely to win their races.
The rest appear likely to fail, although several of the contests are separated by small enough margins that the outcome could change as more ballots are tallied.
Conservative school board candidate David Olson, who ran an unsuccessful bid to unseat Superintendent Chris Reykdal last year, will return to his position on the Peninsula School Board in Gig Harbor.
“I think this shows that the citizens of the Peninsula School District value student outcomes over identity politics,” Olson said at a Tuesday evening campaign party in Gig Harbor. “My opponent did not run on improving student outcomes, improving reading or math scores, where I did. And I think that my 12 years serving on the school board speak for themselves.”
First-time school board candidate Eric Gollings bested his challenger on Tuesday night and has a wide enough margin to claim victory for a seat on the Federal Way School Board.
He told The Center Square that he witnessed the quality of education in the district deteriorate while his two children progressed through the system.
“The reading scores for students in our school district have been going down for years,” Gollings said. “We've got about a decade of reduced reading scores, and so I wanted to turn that around.”
He expressed concern that, despite test scores declining and questionable student outcomes, parents and community members aren’t attending school board meetings.
“I'm honestly concerned by the lack of interest. Nobody shows up to school board meetings, and these very important decisions are being made that are going to affect the future of 21,000 students, and nobody's there,” Gollings continued. “Nobody's saying anything. Nobody's asking questions. I just want to get the word out that our next generation is being raised up right now, and people don't seem to be paying attention.”
He suggests that voters should pay more attention to school district spending and outcomes, given that taxpayers are footing the bill.
“It’s kind of sad to me with the apathy,” Gollings noted. “City council gets so much more interest, and they're better compensated, and their campaigns are better funded, and yet, in Federal Way, the school district has a way bigger budget than the city. So, it's just funny to me that people just don't pay attention to the biggest chunk of our local taxes being spent in our community. We should be paying more attention.”
Some hopefuls who received Republican assistance in their school board races included candidates in districts that have been in the news over resistance to gender ideology curriculaand allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls' sports.
Board members Micah Valentine and Gabe Galbraith of the Kennewick School District both earned reelection on Tuesday. KSD has been in the spotlight for passing a resolution that supports placing some transgender athletes into an “open” category.
The GOP’s backing may have also helped two Mead School Board candidates win their races. The Spokane area district has also pushed back against the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction over directives to allow boys to participate in girls' sports and use girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms.
The GOP’s school board program was successful in 2023, when 32 of the 36 candidates – nearly 89% – backed by the party were elected.
If the current margins hold for candidates this time around, the success rate won’t be nearly as great as two years ago, with more than 54% of the candidates supported by the GOP likely to be elected based on Wednesday's vote totals.
