WA state Republicans are trying to turn school districts red

In an effort to get more conservative school board members in office, the Washington State Republican Party (WAGOP) is pouring resources into dozens of rural school board races with strategic support for conservative candidates — and it’s working.

The party does not offer the candidates money, but gives them “voter data, precinct analysis, fundraising advice and tools, policy training and human resources to assist with doorbelling, outbound phone calls and public events,” according to a July press release on the program.

This is the second election cycle WAGOP has implemented the program, which doesn’t have a formal name. In the 2023 election, the organization supported 36 school board candidates, according to WAGOP Chairman and state Rep. Jim Walsh. Thirty-two of them won.

This year, the organization has expanded to 50 school districts representing 66 school board positions that are up for grabs across the state. Before the August primaries, they had a list of 61 districts.

<noscript><img src="https://www.rangemedia.co/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/47_thumbnail.jpg" width="100%" alt="map visualization"/></noscript></div> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Our goal is to build on proven success and help grow the conservative caucus among locally elected school directors in Washington,” Walsh told RANGE.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>School district positions are non-partisan races in Washington state, but school districts have emerged in the last several election cycles as a crucial mechanism in right-wing efforts to erode rights and resources for queer students and other under-represented people across the US.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">The WAGOP’s local picks</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Locally, WAGOP is working with candidates in board races for Mead, Central Valley, Cheney, Mary Walker and Riverside school districts. The Mead and Central Valley school boards have made headlines the last few years over their stances on culture war issues, like supporting sex-segregated bathrooms and lobbying to ban <a href="/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/">transgender athletes</a> from school sports.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walsh said WAGOP picked school board races based on districts “where we need to win. We’re not looking at districts where we think conservatives with common sense are already running things.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Local school board candidates supported by WAGOP include:&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Gary Vanderholm running for Riverside District position 1</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Brandon Arthur for Central Valley School District position 2 </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Pam Orebaugh for CVSD position 5 </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mark Scott for Cheney School District position 1 </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Jessica Davis for CSD position 2 </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Tim Woodworth for Mead School District position 1 </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>BrieAnne Gray for MSD position 5</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Jeffrey Canfield for Mary Walker School District position 1. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>None of these candidates responded to requests for comment, but some of their opponents emphasized that their base of support is nonpartisan in nature.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“This is a local school board race,” said Alan Skidmore, who is running for CVSD position 2, in an email to RANGE. “I have had individuals who consider themselves Democrats donate money to my campaign. I have had individuals who consider themselves Republican donate to my campaign.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CSD position 2 candidate Elizabeth Winer told RANGE that she’s gotten the most support for her campaign from non-partisan organizations like the <a href="https://www.schoolboardproject.com">School Board Project </a>and <a href="https://www.educateusaction.org">EducateUS</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“While I truly believe in the non-partisan nature of school board directors, I have a silent endorsement from the Spokane County Democrats that allows me access to their voter database, though I am not featured in their promotional materials,” Winer said in an email, adding that she did receive a $250 donation from the Warren G. Magnuson Democratic Club in Spokane Valley. &nbsp;“I did respond to the Spokane GOP when they reached out to me regarding an endorsement, but they were unwilling to accommodate my school board commitments and child care responsibilities, so I did not have an opportunity to speak to them.”&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When it comes to the candidates, Walsh said there’s a preference for those who lead public schools to focus on “proficiency and excellence” in writing, reading, math and science. Walsh, citing the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) <a href="https://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ReportCard/ViewSchoolOrDistrict/103300">education report card of Sept. 2024</a>, noted 60% of Washington students fail to meet grade-level standards in math, and 50% fail in reading and writing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But other numbers produced by OSPI tell a somewhat different story. <a href="https://ospi.k12.wa.us/about-ospi/news-center/news-releases/state-test-scores-show-continued-improvement-math-and-english-language-arts">A study</a> conducted in spring 2025 says 71% of students demonstrated foundational grade-level knowledge and above in ELA, and 63% of students in math, across all grade levels.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We think the job of the school board is to balance a sensible budget and concentrate on what schools are supposed to teach, not what we’ll charitably call social and emotional learning,” Walsh said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">The long-term plan</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The goal, according to Walsh, is to get more conservative school board members in the Washington State School Directors’ Association (<a href="https://wssda.org">WSSDA</a>), which all school board directors are members of by default. WSSDA represents 1,477 locally elected school board members across the state and is non-partisan.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walsh said a more conservative member base would allow local school boards to have control over their districts where, he believes “incompetent school servants like <a href="https://ospi.k12.wa.us/about-ospi/superintendent-chris-reykdal">Chris Reykdal</a> have taken it away.” (Reykdal is the superintendent of OSPI)&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walsh said WSSDA is supposed to provide networking and resources to school districts, not control how school districts operate.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“By growing a conservative caucus, it allows the organization (WSSDA) to not be so politically biased and more diverse in its opinions and policy approach," Walsh said.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Washington State Democratic Party (<a href="https://wadems.org">WADEM</a>) spokesperson Stephen Reed said that the party did not support local school board candidates and suggested state-level influence in local elections erodes the rights of minority students.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“While the WA GOP pushes candidates who don’t believe in LGBTQ+ rights, seek to control the books our students have access to and lie about what gender- affirming care actually does, we will continue our work to uplift candidates who are focused on student outcomes,” Reed said in an email.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Spokane County Democratic Party will assist local candidates with flyers, signs and canvassing if asked, according to interim chair Matthew Sorey, but, like the state-level Democrats, the party does not have a concentrated list of school board races they are supporting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I think it’s kind of a missed opportunity at the state level,” Sorey said. “You always hear the claim that the Democrats are totally focused on the west side because that’s where all the money is, while the Republicans are paying more attention to local races like school boards. I think there’s truth to that, and it’s how they win more rural votes.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walsh said the strategy was born out of necessity.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We have to,” Walsh said when asked if he thought WAGOP focuses on rural districts and elections more than state Democrats do. “We’re leaner, we’re scrappier, we have to be more aggressive.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></body>