Live updates: Wichita-area races for Kansas Board of Education could be pivotal
Conservative Republicans are angling for more influence over Kansas public schools, and two races in the Wichita area could be pivotal, along with a race in Topeka and two in districts that span Johnson and Wyandotte counties.
In District 10, Republican Debby Potter took an early lead over Democrat Jeffrey Jarman and Independent Kent Rowe, according to an Associated Press tally that showed an estimated 6% of votes counted at 7:12 p.m.
Early vote counts from the District 8 race, between Democratic incumbent Betty Arnold and Republican Jason Carmichael were not available immediately after the polls closed.
The Wichita school district is split across two state BOE districts: 8 and 10. Both Republican candidates declined to answer questions for The Eagle's voter guide and each trails their Democratic opponents in campaign fundraising.
Conservatives would need to pick up two seats to control the Kansas Board of Education. Three of the five school board races are open seats while two have incumbents running for re-election.
District 10 is one of the open seats. Jim McNiece, a Republican, is not running for re-election. The district includes school districts spread across seven counties in south-central Kansas — Barber, Butler, Chautauqua, Cowley, Harper, Sedgwick and Sumner. Wichita-area districts include parts of Andover, Cheney, Clearwater, Goddard, Haysville, Maize, Mulvane, Renwick, Valley Center and Wichita school districts.
McNiece has endorsed Democratic candidate Jeff Jarman, a Wichita State University professor and Maize school board member, over Republican Debby Potter, who homeschooled her eight children with "a Christ-centered education from a biblical worldview" and worked for three years as a substitute teacher. Independent Kent Rowe also is running.
Jarman advocates for funding public schools and for attracting and retaining more teachers to the Sunflower State. He opposes vouchers "and other efforts to divert public funds from public schools."
Potter's campaign materials have suggested she is an advocate for vouchers and "empowering parents." She said in a campaign video that she was motivated to run for the state school board because she doesn't want her 19 grandchildren to "to be indoctrinated away from . . . their faith and away from their parents."
Jarman's campaign raised almost $20,000 and spent more than $15,000 as of Oct. 28 while Potter mostly self-funded her campaign and spent less than $6,000 of the more than $9,000 she loaned her campaign account.
Incumbent Betty Arnold, a Democrat, is being challenged by GOP candidate Jason Carmichael in District 8, which covers most of Wichita and five other school districts: Andover, Derby, Haysville, Mulvane and Rose Hill.
Arnold spent more than $15,000 on her campaign during the last reporting period while Carmichael raised $100 from one contributor and spent just over $50.
Arnold, a former Wichita school board member, defeated Republican incumbent Kathy Busch by a narrow margin in 2020. She said the most pressing issues for Kansas schools are a shortage of teachers, declining enrollment and school safety.
Carmichael has kept a low-profile during this campaign, ignoring requests for responses to questionnaires from local news organizations. He has no campaign website and few posts on his campaign Facebook page. The only policy priorities on that page were posted Aug. 24: "My goals are to change the food served, demand physical fitness, and enforce individual academic achievement."
In the Kansas City area, incumbent Melanie Haas faced Republican Fred Postlewait in District 2, which includes much of eastern Wyandotte County and northeast Johnson County. Democrat Kris Meyer faced Republican Connie O'Brien in District 4, which includes portions of northern Johnson and southern Wyandotte counties, along with other areas of eastern Kansas.
In central Kansas, Democrat Beryl Ann New of Topeka and Republican Bruce Schultz of Wamego are vying for an open District 6 seat. The district represents school districts in Chase, Coffee, Dickinson, Douglas, Geary, Greenwood, Jefferson, Lyon, Marion, Morris, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties.
