A bloc of conservative Christian candidates has won five of seven school board seats across southwest Riverside County, final election results show.
The candidates — all endorsed by a conservative PAC — will soon take their place on boards overseeing the Temecula Valley, Murrieta Valley and Lake Elsinore school districts now that results were certified Thursday, Dec. 1, by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.
The candidates backed by the Inland Empire Family PAC, whose website says it “fights for Christian and Conservative values” in schools, include three new trustees on the Temecula Valley board — a new majority at the board room table.
Nick Pardue, a political action committee-backed candidate who ran for the first time for the Murrieta Valley school board, said incumbents lost because boards weren’t being responsive to parents’ concerns.
“We’re dealing with the aftermath of COVID, and those policies were definitely what got people riled up,” said Pardue, who defeated board member Dr. Takesha Cooper for the Area 1 seat. “The election results reflected that.”
“I want to be the voice for those people who put me in office … I’m not here to push an agenda,” Pardue said. “I want to make sure we’re transparent and responsible to everybody. I don’t see myself as a voice for one group of people.”
Though usually quiet, this fall’s school board races in Murrieta, Temecula and Lake Elsinore were being watched by parents, teachers and the community.
In the end, Pardue and four other PAC-endorsed winners beat five longtime school trustees who were backed by teachers’ unions. According to their statements, the incumbents said they valued inclusivity and diverse, equal education and classroom curriculum.
The One Temecula Valley PAC, which backed the incumbents, formed before the elections in response to what its website calls a “real and dangerous threat to local governance,” citing the IE Family PAC and its candidates.
Member Jeff Pack said school trustees must work “on behalf of all the parents and students of these school districts — not (a) religious and political agenda.”
His group created teams to monitor the three school boards and, if needed, will “spread our policy positions within the community, communicate directly with board members, and will populate those chambers during each meeting.”
Barbara Brosch, a longtime Temecula Valley board member and parent, lost in the Area 3 race against PAC candidate Jen Wiersma. She voiced concern that her opponent and some of the PAC’s candidates had not before been involved in the school district.
The Inland Empire Family PAC’s website states that there are problems in the districts and the solutions include “identifying weak board members,” and “taking back the school boards.” Those endorsed by the PAC have said they want to restore parents’ rights and protect children from what they believe is inappropriate, divisive curriculum on sex and race.
Tim Thompson, pastor of 412 Church Temecula Valley, said Riverside County residents prioritize “traditional family values,” and that “parental rights was clearly the winning issue on Nov. 8.”
“For the past few years, the incumbents sat with masked faces in silence as thousands of concerned parents shared their grievances during public comment at school board meetings,” Thompson said. “The response of these incumbents to the cries of the parents made it clear that they were more interested in representing the state to their constituents, instead of representing their constituents to the state.”
Thompson, who serves on the Inland Empire Family PAC board, said the politically-active church and the PAC are “completely separate entities.” His church does not financially support campaigns, he said.
In March, Thompson staged an endorsement rally introducing the candidates he supports, interviewed them on his YouTube channel before the election and appeared at an election night event with them.
“I went to great lengths to find competent, strong, Christian candidates. I was successful in my search, and most of them won,” he said. “Now I will do everything I can to support them in their efforts to make good on the promises they campaigned on.”
Others are concerned about the results and said they’ll be closely watching upcoming board meetings.
Julie Geary, of the progressive group Temecula Unity, worries that trustees won’t know about or push the “issues that matter,” such as fixing academic achievement gaps or the welfare of LGBTQ teachers and students.
Geary said the IE Family PAC ran a campaign “full of misinformation, which beguiled parents” and voters. School board members cannot defy state law, including any possible mandates, she said.
“What school boards do have control over is funding and budgets, programs and policies throughout the district,” Geary said. Public education “shouldn’t be directed by one particular faith or ideology … we want the board to be guided by the California Constitution and the Education Code to shape the policy and direction for students.”
Anthony Noriega, director of the League of United Latin American Citizens Inland Empire Council, also expressed concerns that newly elected trustees will “expose personal views and positions, as opposed to the greater good of the community.”
“I am very much concerned with the results and potential negative impact that may occur with the ongoing struggle for civil rights of the Hispanic community and others,” he said. “These newly elected school board members, with the assistance of the (IE Family) PAC, use hot-button issues like ‘critical race theory,’ which is misleading and not based on facts. Unfortunately, voters are led by these hot-button issues without full knowledge or education in these areas.”
ELECTION RESULTS
Here are the final results for the three school districts in which IE Family PAC candidates ran. They are denoted by asterisks.
Temecula Valley Unified
Trustee Area 1
Allison Barclay, 50.2%
Jason Craig, 49.8%
Trustee Area 2
*Danny Gonzalez, 53.2%
Sandy Hinkson, 46.8%
Trustee Area 3
*Jen Wiersma, 57.2%
Barbara Brosch, 42.8%
Trustee Area 4
*Joseph Komrosky, 54.1%
Adam Skumawitz, 41.6%
Anthony Kelly, 4.3%
Murrieta Valley Unified
Trustee Area 1
*Nick Pardue, 63.2%
Dr. Takesha Cooper, 36.8%
Trustee Area 2
Nancy Young, 46%
*Courtney Cooper, 45.2%
Jeff Hoggard, 8.8%
Trustee Area 3
Julie Vandegrift, 60.6%
Ellen Larson, 39.4%
Lake Elsinore Unified
Trustee Area 1
April Purkiss, 60.7%
Marybeth Slane, 39.3%
Trustee Area 2
Jennette Vanderpool, 56.6%
Genie Kelley, 43.4%
Trustee Area 5
*Jill Leonard, 61.6%
Christopher McDonald, 38.4%
