In recent years, school board politics have taken on a new sense of urgency and partisanship among voters.
School board candidates endorsed by Democrats won from Loudoun County to Montgomery County. Spotsylvania voters ejected incumbent School Board member Kirk Twigg from the Livingston District, who recently said this about controversial books.
"I'm sure we've got hundreds of people out there that would like to see those books before we burn 'em," Twigg said.
Burning books apparently did not resonate with voters because he lost. One of the candidates who won was Karl Fristch, who is about to become chairman of the Fairfax County School Board.
"Glenn Youngkin did not do well here in 2021. I think he won two or three precincts in the entire county. And you've got a lot of Republicans here now scratching their heads about why he wasn't there for them in Fairfax County in this election," Fristch says. "Candidates across Virginia who focused on the fundamental issues that parents actually care about were elected in Loudoun County and Spotsylvania and Gloucester – all over the Commonwealth."
School board candidates supported by Republicans and conservatives were successful in Roanoke and Goochland Counties; an indication this might continue to be a Republican issue for years to come.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
