Historically, party endorsements and campaign donations have played an important role in local elections, even for candidates vying for nonpartisan seats on the Fairfax County School Board.
This year’s election is no different, candidates and political observers say.
“Prior to electing a School Board [in Virginia], there was a view that School Boards weren’t democratic enough,” said Toni-Michelle Travis, a professor of U.S. and Virginia government at George Mason University.
Before the 1995 election, School Board members across the state were appointed rather than elected. That changed after a state rule allowed localities to choose whether its School Board was appointed or elected.
“It was to be a nonpartisan race, [but] that backfired,” Travis said. During the first election, candidates for School Board were endorsed by political party committees. “They are community activists, and I think the parties do identify them and the parties are always recruiting.”
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Not winning the Fairfax County Democratic Committee’s endorsement has caused at least one School Board candidate to drop out of the running this year. At-large candidate Jeannie Armstrong of Burke announced an end to her campaign Aug. 1, after the committee announced its endorsements in late July. “It played 100 percent into my decision to withdraw from the race,” Armstrong said.
Candidates who sought the Democratic endorsement, she said, had to promise to drop from the race if they did not get endorsed and throw their support to the committee’s choice. “I lost by two votes,” Armstrong said. “To continue [as a candidate] is political suicide. You can get thrown out of the party.”
That is not entirely accurate, said Rex Simmons, steering committee chairman of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. “As a member of the Democratic Committee, all candidates sign a pledge to support the nominees,” he said.
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Similarly, Republican Committee staff members said they ask their candidates to back the party’s endorsement winners.
“We think [party endorsements] are absolutely essential. Democrats have been in charge of the School Board largely because of the party’s endorsement,” Simmons said.
The Democratic Party’s endorsement has been particularly influential for candidates running at large for School Board, he said, adding those seats have been won primarily by endorsed candidates.
Party endorsements often translate into extra money and aid for a candidate, said Fairfax County Republican Committee Chairman Anthony Bedell. “It’s important because it puts the operations of the party behind the candidate,” he said. This translates into being on the party’s events calendar, which includes visits with voters and access to volunteers to help canvass for votes.
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“Our brand is a lot better than it has been,” Bedell said. “And that’s a real help [to candidates.”
But the main reason candidates seek party backing is unveiled on Election Day, candidates said.
“There are people in Fairfax who are very partisan and only vote by sample ballot,” Armstrong said. A party’s endorsement gets a candidate’s name on the party’s sample ballot. “To say that [the School Board race] is a nonpartisan election is not accurate.”
Party recognition can trump name recognition when the race falls lower on the ballot, candidates said.
“The typical voter is not as aware of their local, elected representatives [as with state or national candidates],” said Megan McLaughlin, who is running for the School Board’s Braddock District seat, which currently is held by longtime member Tessie Wilson, who is not seeking reelection.
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Running for office, she said, takes community support. Because voters are not always as aware of those running for local office as they are of those running for state, “the voters turn to their party representation for help,” McGlaughlin said.
On top of vying for endorsements from the local Democratic and Republican committees, candidates also compete for campaign funds.
“I went to the Virginia Board of Elections to find out what the expenses were of the 2007 election,” McLaughlin said. “For a district seat, it looks like minimally the candidates have to raise $15,000.”
She added that, in 2007, each candidate for the Braddock seat spent $40,000-plus during the election.
Fairfax County is an expensive area to run for office, Travis said. “What happens with Fairfax is that the elections just keep getting more expensive,” she said. Money can equal greater outreach and connection to voters and a smoother campaign.
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Of the School Board elections in Northern Virginia, Travis said, “I think they are highly partisan, probably more costly than they should be, and they also set the stage for how the next elections will go … who will seek higher [local or state] office.”
School Board, she said, often is a launching pad for higher office.
Running for the local School Board can cost candidates tens of thousands of dollars, said incumbent Jane K. Strauss (Dranesville), who ran for office during that first 1995 election. The struggle this year, with so many local and state races, will be increased, she said. “We’re all raising money out of the same pockets,” she said.
Another struggle candidates might face is donors might not be as willing to give this year as they were in the 2007.
“It’s a huge county with a lot of voters that you want to reach,” incumbent Ilryong Moon (At Large) said. In 2007, Moon said he raised nearly $100,000 to run against seven others seeking the three at-large seats.
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This year, Moon again is in an eight-candidate field, but campaign contributors’ pockets are not as deep as they were before the recession, he said.
“That was four years ago … It’s not really a realistic goal [to raise $100,000] at this point,” he said.
The hype going into this year’s Nov. 8 election has been described by candidates as high because of the unusual turnover on the School Board. Six of the 12 members have said they will not seek reelection; 25 people are running for the 12 seats.
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