Voters ousted controversial East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member Connie Bernard on Saturday night, while keeping another incumbent and selecting two newcomers to join the board.
Bernard lost with 47% of the vote to to Katie Kennison's 53%, according to complete but unofficial results. Mike Gaudet held onto his seat with 51% of the vote.
Meanwhile, Shashonnie Steward won election with 71% of the vote, and Patrick Martin won his seat with 69% of the vote, according to complete but unofficial results.
Bernard's and Gaudet's closely contested runoffs capped an election season that saw a significant changing of the guard on the board.
Five other board members were elected in the Nov. 8 primary — only two of them incumbents and three new faces. Three more incumbents seeking reelection that day were rejected.
Saturday's runoffs were necessary in four races in which no candidate was able to earn more than 50% of the vote.
Even before the runoffs, the primary results ensured a majority voting bloc of candidates supported by school choice-friendly organizations.
The election cycle has been marked by a flood of spending by outside groups united in their support for charter schools, but differing at times on which candidate they supported.
These outside interest groups accounted for 80% of the more than $2.2 million reported spent so far. The political arms of two groups, and , have so far reported spending about $800,000 each respectively. The next biggest spender, $189,000 at last count, has been the political arm of .
Kennison wins District 8
On Nov. 8, Bernard surprised local political circles by making the runoff against Kennison, a 41-year-old mother of two schoolchildren in the parish school system and first-time candidate.
Bernard, 60, pulled off this feat despite quitting the race in early September. Her name, however, stayed on the ballot and she led the Nov. 8 voting. The morning after the primary election, she changed her mind and pursued anew a bid for a fourth term representing District 8.
"I agreed to run after the results of the primary election because that is what the voters indicated they wanted," Bernard said in a statement. "Likewise, I accept these results as an indication of the direction our district chooses to go, and I look forward to helping in the transition."
Kennison reported raising $0 in her latest campaign finance reports. But, in the final week of the election, she landed surprise assistance from the Campaign for Our Shared Future Action Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan education advocacy group drawn to the race because of Bernard’s controversial past, including saying Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee treated his slaves well — she later apologized for her comments — and then being caught shopping online during a subsequent board debate on changing the name of a Baton Rouge high school named after Lee.
Gaudet reelected to District 7
The District 7 race pitted incumbent Gaudet, a Republican and a 69-year-old retired Albemarle executive, against challenger Cathy Carmichael, a 45-year-old Democrat who works as a dietitian and is an outspoken parent of three children in the public school system.
In the leadup to the Nov. 8 election, the education reform community was split. Some stuck with Gaudet, who they’d backed in the past, while others favored newcomer Gloria Wall, a Republican and a physical therapist.
Wall was unable to make the runoff. She later endorsed Gaudet.
District 7, centered around the area south of LSU, is historically a politically conservative district, but it has grown more competitive.
Steward wins District 4; Patrick Martin wins District 9
The races in districts 4 and 9 featured all newcomers.
In District 4, Steward defeated Monique Wicks Robinson, 71% to 29%.
Steward is the head of a company that tracks and provides service to incarcerated youths. Robinson operates a nonprofit that features an after-school program. Both are Democrats, but Steward had a commanding financial advantage.
The seat became open after Dawn Collins decided not to seek reelection.
In District 9, Martin, a Republican, defeated Pamela Taylor Johnson, a Democrat, 69% to 31%.
Martin, 55, is an LSU administrator, while Johnson, 67, is a retired juvenile court judge. Incumbent David Tatman, a Republican, failed to make the runoff when he got 29% of the vote. Tatman is leaving the board after 12 years of service, six of them as board president.