Republican, anti-vaccine candidates target school board races across Bay Area

Here's a look at the conservative candidates vying for Bay Area school board positions.

Liz Kreutz Image
ByLiz Kreutz KGO logo
Thursday, October 27, 2022
Conservative candidates target school board races across Bay Area
In what may come as a surprise to some, several conservative candidates are running for often-ignored Bay Area school board races in an attempt to scale back teachings on race and sexuality.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- In the run-up to the midterm elections, a growing number of Republicans are turning their attention to often-ignored school board races. Their aim is to put conservatives in control of more school systems to scale back teachings on race and sexuality.

The efforts gained steam last year amid parents' frustrations with COVID-19 pandemic policies, but as those issues fade, they're now galvanizing around cultural divisions.

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That movement can be seen right here in the San Francisco Bay Area, where several anti-LGBTQ, anti-vaccine conservative candidates are running for small, down-ballot school board races.

North Bay

Several Marin County school board candidates are discreetly running on an anti-LGBTQ, anti-vaccine platform for the California midterm elections.

There are at least two candidates running for Marin County school board positions who have become a part of this national movement to scale back teachings on sexuality and push back on vaccine mandates.

Tief Gibbs Jensen is a candidate running for school board in the Novato Unified trustee District 4. She's a mom of two recent Novato graduates and a local business owner.

Faye Bourret, a San Rafael School Board candidate, is running for office for the first time. She says she wants to focus on learning loss during the pandemic and leaving vaccination decision up to parents.

Read the full story, here.

South Bay

The president of a South Bay Republican women group began recruiting anti-CRT candidates for school boards last year. And her efforts have paid off.

After actively recruiting last year, the president of a Republican women's group has anti-critical race theory candidates running in 10 different school board races across the South Bay.

One of them is Ingrid Campos, who's running in the Palo Alto Unified School District. She's one of 16 candidates backed by the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women.

Many of the candidates running are parents. For all of them, it's their first time ever running for office.

Read the full story, here.

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