Questions raised about Springfield Vote417 PAC's endorsement process, members, ad spending

As the Springfield school board election draws near, questions have been raised — by a school board candidate, a sitting board member, and a local government watchdog — about the Vote417 political action committee, which has endorsed three candidates.

The questions centered on who is currently involved in the PAC, how the endorsement process worked, and why the bulk of payments from the PAC have been to a company connected to one of its founders.

To this point, there have been no allegations of wrongdoing, only lack of transparency.

Recently, board member Kelly Byrne sought to refute an allegation in campaign ads from the Vote417 PAC alleging that "book-banning extremists are only one seat away from taking control of our school board."

On March 4, Vote417 publicly endorsed first-time candidate Susan Provance and incumbents Danielle Kincaid and Scott Crise in the 2024 school board race. Three seats will be decided by the April 2 election and other candidates include first-time candidate Kyler Sherman-Wilkins; Landon McCarter and Chad Rollins, who also ran in 2023, and incumbent Maryam Mohammadkhani.

A day after Vote417 issued its endorsement, McCarter reached out to the News-Leader to voice concerns.

"No one I have talked to has ever heard of it (Vote417) and I was never reached out to from them for consideration of endorsement. Not one email, text or call," McCarter said, in a text.

McCarter added: "Candidates work really hard for endorsements. It delegitimizes the endorsement process if some person can create a PAC and start busting out news releases."

At the time, the News-Leader asked founding member Jacob Brower, who has served as point-person, about the endorsement process. His response: "The endorsements were made based on the candidates' track records and public statements. It is our understanding that PACs aren't supposed to coordinate with candidates, and we err on the side of extreme caution."

In a follow-up interview Sunday, the News-Leader asked for more details about the process. Brower said it was the same as in prior years.

"As we've publicly stated, endorsements were made based on each candidate's track record and public statements, just as we have done in previous election cycles," he said. "It was apparent early on that Scott Crise, Danielle Kincaid and Susan Provance were the right choices."

The group provided more details about why it selected the three in its original news release.

"It's easy to go behind closed doors and tell people what they want to hear," Brower said, referring to the interview-based endorsement process used by other groups.

The United Springfield PAC interviewed candidates before endorsing the same three: Crise, Kincaid and Provance.

The Springfield National Education Association and Teamsters Local No. 245 also interviewed all candidates. SNEA picked McCarter, Sherman-Wilkins and Mohammadkhani while the Teamsters selected Provance, McCarter and Sherman-Wilkins.

The Back on Track America PAC — which endorsed McCarter, Rollins and Mohammadkhani — conducted a survey but not all candidates participated.

All candidates answered a questionnaire from Springfield's Missouri State Teachers Association. The group endorsed Kincaid, Provance and Sherman-Wilkins.

Brower added: "You can fake your way through a 30-minute interview. It's harder to fake a years-long track record."

PAC experiences leadership change

The Vote417 group formed, in late 2021, to "defend" the voting rights of Missourians and described voting as the "most precious right" of Americans.

"Every eligible citizen who wants to vote should be able to vote, and vote easily," the group stated on its website. "We support candidates and causes that advance voter rights, and vigorously oppose those that support voter suppression."

In March 2022, the group stepped into the school board race to denounce TV attack ads paid for by the opaque Truth In Politics group, which did not disclose its donors.

At the time, Brower said the group did not intend to get involved in the school board race but felt compelled to act after the campaign ad attacked incumbent Charles Taylor, who lost the election.

"School board elections, school boards were kind of a safe haven from politics. It was people in the community, concerned citizens, who just came together because they wanted their children to have the best education possible," said Brower in March 2022. "And within the last few years, what we've seen regarding the politicization of those races, it is very troubling."

The Vote417 group was initially led by Barry Rowell, former Springfield mayor Bob Stephens and Brower. Rowell and Stephens have since left.

Stephens, who is campaign treasurer for Sherman-Wilkins, said he left a year ago. He said at the time of his exit, the group had 8-10 members.

Asked how many people are involved in the group now, Brower said Sunday it was more than 200. The leadership of the group includes Dennis Pyle, president; Jody Bilyeu, vice president; and Brower as secretary and treasurer.

PAC uses company owned by founding member

Springfield resident Linda Simkins, who keeps an eye on local government and elections, regularly reviews reports to the Missouri Ethics Commission involving local candidates and PACs.

She noted Brower owns Archer's Bow Media and Marketing LLC and most of the spending reported for the Vote417 PAC — more than $6,000 — went to ABM Strategies.

Asked about ABM Strategies, which has the same address of Brower's media and marketing company, Brower said it is his company and the "arm of Archer's Bow that helps with nonprofits and community groups."

The group described spending with ABM Strategies as advertising in the campaign disclosure reports.

Simkins said while she does not think the PAC's decision to use Brower's company for its advertising is illegal, it does raise questions.

"For all their talk about 'dark money' and lack of transparency by others, Vote417 certainly isn't transparent," she said.

Asked if he has benefited financially from the spending of Vote417, Brower said he hasn't and that all of the PAC funds have gone to pay for advertising for the group or the candidates that it has endorsed.

"Every dime we raise goes to promoting the candidates we've endorsed. We err on the side of transparency and disclose much more than is required by law," Brower said Sunday.

"Over the past three years, no local group has done as much with as little as we've raised, and I'm incredibly proud of that. Every day, I get messages from people saying their (social media) feeds are flooded with Vote417 ads."

Brower added: "We've only raised $2,000 this election cycle. The question that should be asked is why more local community groups haven't reached out to Archer's Bow for their marketing, not why Vote417 has."

The group made direct donations to Taylor in 2022 and board members Shurita Thomas-Tate and Judy Brunner, who the group endorsed during the 2023 election.

Brower, Rowell and Stephens all donated to get the group started. Brower has made multiple donations.

Most of the funds were spent in 2022 and 2023. In March, when the 2023 board endorsements were announced, the PAC had less than $400 in its account.

Allegations related to banning books

In a short interview Sunday, Byrne said he was frustrated that Vote417 ads for Kincaid, Crise and Provance alleged "book-banning extremists are only one seat from taking control of our school board."

Byrne tagged Kincaid in a post about the endorsement ad, which she had shared, nearly a week ago on Facebook. He wrote: "Danielle Kincaid please don't be so vague with scare tactic campaigning. Who are the 'book banning extremists' who currently sit on our board and who are the ones that are running?"

The News-Leader reached out to Kincaid about sharing the ad. She provided a short statement.

"I am thrilled with the support I have received from the Springfield community — teachers, citizens, parents, and others that care about our public schools," she said.

"Questions about statements or comments made online or elsewhere should properly be directed to the person(s) making them."

Kincaid added: "Vote417 is correct that I do not support banning or burning books because I support our educators, administrators, and librarians that work to make sure our libraries have enriching and age-appropriate materials for our students."

Asked about the allegation in the ad and Byrne's objection to it, Brower said: "We appreciate the extra attention he's trying to bring to our ad. It's obviously struck a chord and we feel it speaks for itself."

Brower described the questions that have been raised about the PAC as "Hail Mary passes from desperate campaign surrogates" and was critical of the News-Leader writing a story about the issues raised so close to the election. Most media outlets, including the News-Leader, limit campaign-related stories in the final days before the election.

Byrne said he also supports "age-appropriate" books in schools and does not want to rewrite history.

He said an allegation, like the one leveled by the PAC, has the possibility of "influencing the election."

Byrne said he does not know of any sitting board member or candidate who wants to ban books and that the issue has not come up during his time on the board. "No, not at all."

"The only talk we have had about books has been about textbooks," he said.

In 2021, before Byrne was elected to the board, two book removal requests were appealed all the way to the school board, where they were ultimately rejected.

More: Behind closed doors, Springfield school board rejected two book ban attempts in 2021

However, few were aware of the requests or the outcome because the review process — including a final decision by a four- or five-member committee of the board, enough for a quorum — occurred almost entirely out of public view.

The district said the special meetings where board members discussed and voted on the book removal requests were closed to the public to protect the confidentiality of students who may have been involved.

A Missouri expert in the Sunshine Law said the district's reason for considering book ban requests out of public view was "not justifiable."

The books targeted were "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky and "In Our Mothers' House" by Patricia Polacco.

A quorum of the board decided not to ban either book. But, with one book, the decision was not unanimous.

For the "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" book, offered as a choice in a class available to high school juniors and seniors, five board members were on the review committee.

They included Alina Lehnert, Denise Fredrick and Charles Taylor — who are no longer on the board — plus Kincaid and Mohammadkhani.

A majority of the five-member committee, all but Mohammadkhani, agreed the book should remain an option in the district.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield Vote417 PAC's endorsements process, ad spending questioned