The politically charged battle for school boards in Tuesday鈥檚 election was mixed, with conservative-backed candidates winning in Francis Howell and Wentzville but faltering in Parkway and Rockwood.
In the Wentzville School District, where one of the candidates dropped out of the race after opponents questioned his job with the federal government, the race for three open seats was topped by conservatives Renee Henke, David Lewis and Jen Olson, who beat out David Biesenthal and Brad Welsh, who were endorsed by the Missouri Equity Education Partnership.
The conservative slate in Francis Howell was also victorious, with Ron Harmon, Mark Ponder and Jane Puszkar winning the three open seats.
But conservative voters in the Rockwood School District failed to seize a majority on the seven-member school board after their preferred candidates won two seats in a hotly contested race last year.
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Incumbent Lynne Midyett, Karen 鈥淜ary鈥 Bachert and Bob Cadigan, all endorsed by the Rockwood teachers鈥 union, topped Thomas Dunn, Trisha Katzfey and Richard Wierzba, who were endorsed by conservative talk radio host Marc Cox.
In Parkway, three pro-equity candidates, Tiffany Mapp Franklin, Debbie Hopper and Jeff Todd beat out conservative-backed Matt Ehlen, Kathy Guerra, Ryan Kerr and Mark Ivancic for three seats.
A total of 63 candidates for school board seats appeared on ballots across St. Louis County, compared to 84 in the April 2022 election. While only four school board races went uncontested in 2022, this year 11 districts had the same number of candidates as open seats 鈥 Bayless, Brentwood, Clayton, Hancock Place, Hazelwood, Jennings, Kirkwood, Maplewood Richmond Heights, Mehlville, Ritenour and Riverview Gardens.
Two candidates in Mehlville were disqualified by the Missouri Ethics Commission this week for failing to file financial documents on time. A district spokeswoman said the school board plans to follow protocol for vacant seats by accepting applications for at least two weeks before appointing two new members.
Voters in Mehlville approved a property聽tax hike to fund teacher and staff raises. In Jefferson County, voters approved no-tax-increase bond measures for improvement projects in the Dunklin, Grandview, Northwest and Sunrise school districts.
Progressive Democrats won three of four battleground races for alderman Tuesday, clearing the way for more policy aimed at fighting crime with social services, tackling racial inequities and lifting up the poor.
Mayors in Bellefontaine Neighbors and Jennings lost their re-election bids.
City Councilman Charles Powell III won the mayor's seat Tuesday with nearly 45% of the vote.