Get Ready…

If you care about strong public schools in Williamson County, it is imperative that you be informed, be engaged, and VOTE!

Only 6.4% voted early this year. That’s less than 1 out of 15 of us. Ensure that you and your friends and family make plans to vote Thursday from 7 to 7 at your normal polling location.

About 9% of 70,469 registered voters cast ballots early in the districts with a school board election.

District 1: About 6.8 percent of 10,385 registered voters cast ballots.

District 3: About 5.12 percent of 10,998 registered voters cast ballots.

District 4: About 5.22 percent of 13,023 registered voters cast ballots.

District 5: About 6.79 percent of 13,075 registered voters cast ballots.

District 7: About 10.63 percent of 12,931 registered voters cast ballots.

District 9: About 8.19 percent of 12,936 registered voters cast ballots.

District 11: About 10.79 percent of 10,058 registered voters cast ballots.

What is my WCSB district? Where do I vote? When do I vote?

Go to this handy dandy lookup. Your school board district is your County District. If you’re in District 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, or 11, you get to vote Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at your normal polling location shown in the lookup or on your voter registration card.

Can I wait and vote in November?

No! School board elections are ONLY on Thursday, August 4. On that day you get to choose who will represent you for four years. If you miss the election Thursday, you won’t have a chance to vote again until 2020!

How can I learn more about the school board candidates?

For a one-stop shop for profiles of all of the WCSB candidates with links to their social media, questionnaires, endorsements and financials, district maps, and more, check out our Updated 2016 WCSB Election Roundup. Think carefully about whether you want more of the 2014 election or less and whether you want a Tea Party/912-controlled board or not.

Who has endorsed the candidates?

(Click to enlarge)

D1 Richard Davis – Williamson County Homeschool Coalition, 912 TN, WCRP Executive Committee

D1 Angela Durham – WillCo Rising PAC, former District 1 WCSB member Ken Peterson, retired Fairview Middle School Principal Gary Shrader

D3 Christy Coleman

D3 Kim Little – Williamson County Homeschool Coalition, 912 TN, WCRP Executive Committee, Spring Hill Mayor Rick Graham, WCSB member PJ Mezera (campaign treasurer)

D3 Eliot Mitchell – WillCo Rising PAC, Spring Hill Aldermen Jonathan Duda, Bruce Hull, Amy Wurth and Susan Zemek; District 11 County Commissioner Brian Beathard, former WCSB member Vicki Vogt

D4 Anne McGraw (incumbent) – Williamson Business PAC, WillCo Rising PAC, County Mayor Rogers Anderson, 13 Williamson County Commissioners (D2 Judy Herbert and Betsy Hester, D3 Matt Milligan and David Pair, D5 Lew Green and Tommy Little, D6 Paul Webb, D7 Tom Bain, D8 Jack Walton, D10 Matt Williams, D11 Brian Beathard, D12 Dana Ausbrooks and Steve Smith), former WCSB member Vicki Vogt

D4 Joey Czarneski – Williamson County Homeschool Coalition, 912 TN, WCRP Executive Committee, Franklin Alderman Bev Burger, District 4 County Commissioners Kathy Danner and Gregg Lawrence

D5 Gary Anderson (incumbent) – Williamson Business PAC, WillCo Rising PAC, County Mayor Rogers Anderson, District 5 County Commissioners Tommy Little and Lew Green, former WCSB member Vicki Vogt, former FSSD board member Kent McNish

D5 Julie Mauck – Williamson County Homeschool Coalition, 912 TN, RWWC

D7 Bobby Hullett (incumbent) – Williamson Business PAC, WillCo Rising PAC, District 7 County Commissioners Tom Bain and Bert Chalfant, former WCSB member Vicki Vogt

D7 Jennifer Luteran – Williamson County Homeschool Coalition, 912 TN, RWWC

D7 Christopher Richards

D9 Rick Wimberly (incumbent) – Williamson Business PAC, WillCo Rising PAC, former WCSB members Vicki Vogt and Barry Watkins

D9 Denise Boothby – Williamson County Homeschool Coalition, 912 TN, RWWC

D11 Stuart Cooper – Williamson County Homeschool Coalition, 912 TN, WCRP Executive Committee

D11 KC Haugh – Williamson Business PAC, WillCo Rising PAC, District 11 County Commissioner Brian Beathard, Franklin Aldermen Pearl Bransford, Margaret Martin and Mike Skinner, former WCSB members Vicki Vogt and Eric Welch, FSSD board member Alicia Barker, former FSSD board member Kent McNish

Is this going to be like the 2014 elections?

You get to decide with your vote!

2014 was a huge election in which a wave of coordinated candidates were recruited, vetted, and supported by 912 (and related groups like RWWC) and supported by local and national pro-privatization funders (including Americans for Prosperity). They swept all six seats. Two 912 members (PJ Mezera and Mark Gregory) were already on the board. The 912-supported candidates have control of the board, and the last two years have largely been a representation of their issues, campaigns, and interests.

Though none of those people is up for re-election this year, 2016 is a rerun.

Our analysis is that 2016 is a contest between those who recruited, guided, and supported the 2014 challengers and those reacting to the campaigns, personalities, and politics over the last two years.

In fact, every single district has a contest between:

1. A candidate who is supported by the same people and groups who brought us the 2014 challengers (Curlee, Burgos, Emerson, Cash, et al.) – such as the Williamson County Homeschool Coalition, 912 TN, WCRP Executive Committee, and RWWC

2. A candidate who is supported by people and groups reacting to and pushing back against that wave of candidates – such as the Williamson Business PAC and WillCo Rising PAC

What can I do?

1. Be informed, be engaged, and VOTE!

2. Mark your calendar for a specific time to vote on Thursday between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

3. Make sure your spouse, partner, parents, siblings and children over 18 vote.

4. Grab two friends and go to the polls together.

5. Tag five friends on this post.