Jefferson County School Board Election

“I really think we’re going to see people from across the nation point to what happens in Jefferson County this Fall to drive education policy.”

There are 13 candidates seeking election to the Jefferson County School Board. Due to a successful recall campaign that targeted 3 conservative members of the board – Ken Witt, John Newkirk and Julie Williams. Ron Mitchell, Susan Harmon and Brad Rupert are challenging the incumbents in the politically charged race. Nic Garcia, a reporter with Chalkbeat Colorado says the three challengers are running as a slate “they have a similar platform, they have similar backers.” Garcia says there are other candidates challenging the incumbents as part of the recall but he says those three candidates “have the biggest infrastructure behind them, those three have the support of the folks who launched the recall (JeffCo United), so if the recall is successful, those three candidates are most likely to be the new school board members.”

The Jefferson County School Board race has attracted attention from around the country following last years mass walkouts by students and teachers over proposed changes to the history curriculum. Garcia says the outcome of the Jefferson County School Board race is being closely watched by other school districts across the country “I really think we’re going to see people from across the nation point to what happens in Jefferson County this Fall to drive education policy.”