Preliminary results show Republicans maintained control of the Kansas State Board of Education after voting concluded Nov. 3.
The five candidates who won this year’s election will be new to the board, because none of the five incumbents who were up for reelection chose to run again. Four of the winning candidates were Republicans, but one Democrat flipped a formerly Republican seat.
Three Democrats and two Republicans hold the other five seats on the board, which were not up for election this year.
That leaves the board with an overall breakdown of six Republicans and four Democrats.
The board sets policies and accreditation standards for the state’s school districts and has recently discussed topics including guidelines for technology in schools and improving literacy.
In the Kansas City area, Democrat Amy Diediker defeated Republican Jim McMullen with 55% of the vote for the District 3 seat, covering southern Johnson County and northern Miami County.
Diediker is a former elementary music teacher. She has three children and is a community organizer, precinct leader and fundraiser for Perthes Kids Foundation. She was endorsed by the Kansas National Education Association teachers union, Stand Up Blue Valley and the Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus, among others.
Diediker’s priorities include continuing Kansas’ progress in improved reading instruction, listening to educators and parents from her district and reexamining teacher licensing requirements to help recruit and retain qualified teachers and offer them flexibility to teach different subjects.
Also in the Kansas City area, Republican Amy Cawvey defeated Democrat Jennifer Lloyd with 55% of the vote. Cawvey will represent District 1, which covers all or part of a dozen counties in northeast Kansas, including northwest Wyandotte County and about half of Leavenworth County in the Kansas City area.
Cawvey is Kansas chairman for the National School Boards Coalition and a former local school board member from Lansing in Leavenworth County. She was endorsed by three current State Board of Education members, a Lansing school board member, current and former lawmakers and groups such as Kansans for Life and Moms for Liberty.
Cawvey’s priorities include increasing student achievement, following state and federal law and protecting parental rights.
In District 5, a sprawling district covering much of northern and western Kansas, Republican Jean Clifford defeated Democrat Lorie Wood with 73% of the vote.
In District 7, covering well over a dozen counties mainly in central or southern Kansas, Republican Alana McWilliams defeated Democrat Ann Zimmerman with 63% of the vote.
In District 9, covering southeast Kansas, Republican Destry Brown defeated Democrat Heather Guernsey with 69% of the vote.
All election results are unofficial until they are certified by local election offices in the coming days.
