The candidate field for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) Board of Education is settled following the June 18 deadline. There are 10 candidates for four open seats.
There were two partisan candidates for the November election — both Republicans — but one of them dropped out.
This leaves Evansville Pastor Steven Ary as the first local partisan schoolboard candidate under the new state law.
Vanderburgh County Republican Party Chair Kyhle Moers is going to put support behind Ary’s campaign — ideally as much as he puts into higher-profile races.
“We have important races from the top to the bottom,” Moers said. “Honestly, I'm really trying to be as inclusive of every candidate as I can, and really put the same amount of effort towards the school board candidate as I would helping Mark Messner with his campaign, and that's going to include a really robust door knocking and phone banking strategy, as well as a somewhat aggressive mail strategy.”
All the other nine candidates filed as non-partisan. District 1 Trustee Chris Kiefer is the only incumbent without challengers.
More on the new state law here
The At-Large seat held by Melissa Moore — a Democrat running non-partisan — is crowded, with five candidates, including Ary. Others are Andy Guarino and Brian Murphy.
District 2 Incumbents, Republicans Mike Duckworth and David Hollingsworth, are running again for their seats as non-partisans.
Also running are Lindsey Patterson and Ken Colbert. Colbert may be controversial because of his fraught relationship with the local GOP, and his outspoken presence at local municipal meetings.
Republican Ryan Owens exited the race during the grace period. Moers said conversations centered around the time commitments required for such a race. "He's got a pretty young family still," Mores said. "I think that he came to the conclusion that maybe now is not the exact right time."
Moers said traditionally, local parties haven’t helped school board candidates win elections.
“… partially because they're nonpartisan, but also I think that the party, at least locally, hasn't viewed the school board races with a high amount of importance, but I really do think that they are. It's an incredibly important seat that we're going after this time.”
WNIN will have detailed coverage on each candidate ahead of the November general election.
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