By Jason M. White
May 07, 2008 10:03 pm
—
School board incumbents fared poorly across Madison County on Tuesday, according to election results.
Most got booted off their boards.
This goes against the typical trend of incumbents having the upper hand against their challengers. For instance, most incumbents kept their seats in Delaware County school board races.
The problems incumbents faced in Madison County shared a common theme: challengers with popular names, popular recognition and popular connections.
In some cases, incumbents who were defeated had served no more than one term and ran against individuals better known for a longer period of time.
Here’s what happened Tuesday:
• All three incumbents were unseated in Alexandria school board races.
• Two out of three incumbents were defeated in Elwood school board races. The incumbent who got to keep his seat had no opponent.
• Two incumbents were voted off the South Madison school board.
• A Frankton-Lapel incumbent narrowly defeated his challenger by 24 votes.
• Two incumbents were defeated in Anderson school board races.
Anderson Community School Corp.
Tim Long had an edge over the school board incumbent he unseated: Long shares the name of a former, well-known superintendent of the school district.
Long defeated incumbent Walter S. Fitch, who had served on the board for a year, and three other challengers for the South 1 position. Long admitted that part of the reason for his win was name recognition because of the former superintendent.
But also, his name was familiar because of his work with the local Save Our Schools movement.
“I was quoted regularly in the paper on various issues,” he said.
Irma Hampton Stewart also unseated an incumbent, Teddy Bohnenkamp, who is finishing her first term.
Stewart had served on the school board for 12 years before Bohnenkamp defeated her in 2004.
South Madison Community School Corp.
Terry Auker had the benefit of name recognition and the support of other prominent individuals in the community, including County Commissioner Paul Wilson.
Auker upset incumbent DeAnn Wehner and challenger Shane Cline.
Wehner was only on the board for two years and was appointed to the position, not elected.
Auker said he was not surprised by his win, because the community recognized his 24 years of education experience. Now retired, he was the first principal of East Elementary School.
Wilson supported Auker for personal reasons, not political ones, he said.
“I’ve known him for years and think he’s a nice guy and will do a good job,” Wilson said.
Wilson is a prominent county Democrat who also served three terms on the South Madison school board. He supported Auker through monetary contributions and word of mouth.
Auker did not file a campaign finance report.
Incumbent Susan Campbell also lost her seat to a political newcomer with a well-established name and reputation. Campbell has served on the school board for four years.
The challenger who beat her, Chris Boots, is president and CEO of C.J. Boots Casket Co., one of the state’s top-100 fastest growing companies.
He has served on two committees for the school district: the middle school utilization committee and the instrumental music task force.
Elwood Community School Corp.
A pair of mothers openly worked together to get support and make connections for Tuesday’s elections.
Sandra Ratliff defeated incumbent Howard Badger, and Stephanie Hoel defeated incumbent Delbert Litherland.
Ratliff and Hoel attributed their wins to working together to get more support as a team instead of individually. But Litherland said the mothers’ wins likely came from the support of teachers who are working without contracts within the school district.
“It’s the teachers,” Litherland said Tuesday. “They’ve been campaigning with them since last fall. They feel the board members are keeping them repressed, that we’re not meeting their needs.”
Alexandria Community School Corp.
All three incumbents lost their seats to their challengers.
Tina Lynn Stanley defeated incumbent Daniel Baker, who was finishing his first term on the school board.
Stanley has served as leader of the church youth program AWANA, a Vacation Bible School teacher and a member of Delta Theta Sorority.
Bob Kelly upset incumbent George “Chip” McFerran, and Warren Brown Jr. upset incumbent Thomas Gaunt.
Candidates said Tuesday they were unsure why the incumbents were unseated.
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