Two incumbents out as JC school board goes all GOP
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A crowded Johnson City School Board race saw incumbents Herb Greenlee and Beth Smith lose their reelection bids in a Republican sweep as newcomers Rick Smith and Celia Martin joined incumbent Ginger Carter on the seven-member board.
Three seats were up for grabs in a race that featured eight candidates — Republicans Carter, Martin, and Smith; Democrats Ryan Berkley, Sam Pettyjohn, and Zaire Smith; and independents Simpson and Greenlee.
Carter led the ticket, as she did in 2020, to win a second term. Smith was second, well ahead of Martin.
The winners join Kathy Hall, Paula Treece, Tom Hager and Jonathan Kinnick.
They will join a board that guides one of the region's most well-funded and academically successful school systems. The pending construction of a new replacement school for Town Acres Elementary is among the system's biggest projects over the next few years.
The city has 11 schools — eight elementary schools, two 6-8 middle schools and one high school, Science Hill. The district has posted Northeast Tennessee's highest standardized test scores over each of the past several years at both the elementary and high school levels.
The relatively quiet campaign tested the power of partisan affiliations in the second school board election under that system, particularly since incumbents Simpson and Greenlee had chosen to avoid party primaries, but the typically dominant Republican party had three candidates running. The three Democrats also had backing from an active party that wasn't available to Simpson or Greenlee.
