Conservatives make gains on Kansas state school board in sharply divided election

Conservative Republicans won more seats on the Kansas state Board of Education on Tuesday night, after running campaigns focused on giving parents more control in the classroom, fueled by frustration over curriculum on race and gender identity.

With all precincts reporting early Wednesday, conservative incumbent Michelle Dombrosky, an Olathe Republican, retained her seat with 53%, defeating Overland Park Democrat and former school principal Sheila Albers, with 47%. The 3rd District includes parts of Johnson and Miami counties and the Wellsville school district in Franklin County.

District 3 covers central and southern Johnson County, and excludes the traditionally bluer, northern region. Albers lost in Johnson County by more than 3,200 votes, according to the county’s complete yet unofficial results, even though 59% of voters there cast ballots for Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. And the county handily elected Democrat Mike Kelly to become Johnson County Commission chair and reelected Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids.

In the 1st District, Leavenworth Republican Danny Zeck, a conservative, won 62%, ahead of Leavenworth Democrat Jeffrey Howards, with 38%. Zeck will replace Kansas City Democrat Janet Waugh, who served for more than two decades before redistricting made her ineligible. The district now spans parts of Wyandotte, Atchison and Leavenworth counties, as well as several other counties, as far west as Marshall and Riley counties.

Three other candidates were unopposed on Tuesday:

Two conservative newcomers, Dennis Hershberger of Hutchinson and Cathy Hopkins of Hays, won seats on the board after fighting off more moderate incumbents in the primary. Incumbent Jim Porter, a moderate Republican from Fredonia, retained his seat after winning his August primary against Luke Aichele, a McPherson barber who opened his business in violation of COVID-19 protocols.

The board represents 10 districts across the state, with half of those seats, all four-year terms, on the November ballot. This election, with four conservatives winning seats, will now shift the more moderate board further to the right.

Waugh could not run for another term after the Legislature approved a new state Board of Education map this spring. Many criticized the redistricting as gerrymandering, splitting the more liberal and diverse Wyandotte County into three pieces, for example.

Before the map was approved, Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, said he would, “love to have more conservatives run because you’re starting to see, particularly after COVID, how important education is and how important that board is in the process.”

The races did attract more conservative candidates, who may be more in step with the GOP-dominated Legislature.

The conservative candidates all campaigned on the same issues, often using the exact same wording on their websites, pushing for “parent-oriented” policies and arguing that “data collection” in schools infringes on parents’ rights.

And they pointed to Kansas’ falling test scores in recent years as an indictment of the current education strategy, arguing that schools should get back to the academic basics, rather than pushing social-emotional learning focused on teaching students soft skills for life after graduation.

Democrats have emphasized that while test scores are down, the state has recently seen a record high graduation rate, as well as higher levels of postsecondary success, according to the state education department.

Judith Deedy, founder of the public education advocacy group Game On for Kansas Schools, argued that “an extremist takeover of our State Board of Education is being attempted” by candidates that have “campaigned on the false issues of social-emotional learning, student data and parents’ rights.”

Dombrosky, along with the three other conservatives in the race, received the endorsement of the Kansans for Life PAC, focused on electing candidates who oppose abortion rights. She has campaigned on parents having more say over what goes on in the classroom. And on an ivoterguide.com survey, Dombrosky said she strongly opposes curriculum that emphasizes slavery and racism as foundational to America’s history.

Dombrosky did not respond to multiple requests by The Star for comment.

Albers, a former public educator and Blue Valley middle school principal, has become a notable activist since her 17-year-old son John Albers was fatally shot by a police officer in Overland Park in 2018. Since then, Albers has advocated for police reform, including successfully pushing for crisis intervention training for all Overland Park officers.

Albers raised $16,698 ahead of the election, according to an October campaign filing, more than Dombrosky’s $11,676.

In the other northeast Kansas race, Zeck beat out Howards, chair of the Leavenworth County Democratic Party.

Zeck, a Leavenworth Republican who is retired after operating a Ford dealership for over 30 years, said on his website, “It is time to stop the Washington Liberal Standards from dictating values that do not fit Kansas Education. We must put Parents In Charge of their child’s Education.”

Zeck said in the ivoterguide.com survey that students should not be taught about curriculum that focuses on slavery and racism being foundational to America’s history, writing that, “A curricula that teaches a child not to trust the generation before them, which is their parents, can only break down the family unit further.”

Zeck outraised his opponent, with $26,742 in contributions according to an October campaign report, while Howards raised $21,543.