Politics

GOP urges one-shot vote in School Board race

Coly Coren

By Bill Moss, Published: October 19, 2014

Resuming a practice it used successfully two years ago, the Henderson County Republican Party has endorsed a single candidate in the nonpartisan School Board race in which three seats are up for election.

The Republican Party's endorsement in the School Board race came up at a candidate forum sponsored League of Women Voters, when someone asked why the party was involved in a nonpartisan race. In an email, the local party had identified candidate Colby Coren as a conservative Republican voters should support. The ballot for School Board includes three other Republicans — incumbents Lisa Edwards and Amy Lynn Holt and third-time candidate Michael Absher. They objected to the GOP's decision to endorse Coren without talking to anyone else.
"All I can tell you is we found out — Amy and Michael and I — that there was a statement released that the Henderson County Republican Party and the North Carolina Republican Party were encouraging people to just vote for one person and that they were endorsing Colby," Edwards said.
The GOP's executive committee relented, inviting all four Republicans to an interview on Sunday.
"I really felt good about the questions they asked," Edwards said. "They asked about the transition to digital textbooks. They asked a couple of budget related questions. I was asked if I would support vouchers and I told them without accountability I just can't support it. We get a list of (private schools) where the voucher money went and some of them were questionable."
After the interviews, the party sent the candidates an email saying the committee came out with a statement that left its earlier decision intact. It endorsed Coren.
"I've been a Republican my whole life and I don't understand why the Republican Party would not back a conservative Republican, meaning me," Edwards said. "I've always been, my whole family's been" Republican. "I don't understand it."

'More education for our money'

Coren provokes spontaneous applause in campaign forums with a line that appeals to conservatives. "We don't need more money for education but more education for our money," he says.
"Twenty-seven million dollars is being poured in (to education in Henderson County) and you get a one-sheet budget that's coming out," he said during a campaign forum last week. "I think we need to take a look at that budget and really figure out where that money's going and figure out how we're spending that money and figure out if there's ways to get more money into our classrooms."
Coren, 27, said he learned after the 15-minute interview on Sunday that the party had endorsed him.
"My assumption is that the views we had were very similar and lined up with theirs," he said in an interview. "I was also the only one that went through the iCaucus endorsement process," a Tea Party-favored candidate evaluation that involves an on-line survey and a phone interview. ("We have determined that iCaucus principles and values align with ours," the Asheville Tea Party says on its website.)
"I definitely appreciate the support of the Republican Party," added Coren, who is worship pastor for East Flat Rock Baptist Church. "I don't believe this is nonpartisan, whether it's called nonpartisan or not. A (school) board member is running for North Carolina Senate. I think that makes it more partisan."
School Board member Rick Wood, the Democratic nominee for the 48th Senate District, has been an outspoken critic of policies and budgets for schools enacted by the Republican-led General Assembly.

'Children's issues are nonpartisan'

During the Legaue of Women Voters last week, all the candidates but Coren said they hoped voters perceived the School Board race as nonpartisan.
"This is a nonpartisan position, children are nonpartisan, children's issues are nonpartisan," said Sonia Rollins Gironda, who is registered as unaffiliated. "We need to take care of our children. They are not Republican or Democrat or Libertarian or whatever you want to pick, they are children. The other thing is that nonpartisan means that the individual should be objective and not supported or controlled by a political party or special interest group."
Coren asked moderator Judy Katz if Henderson County Republican Party Chairman Glen Englram could speak for him. She said no.
In 2012, the Republican Party endorsed its former treasurer, Josh Houston. It was the first time the party had publicly plunged into the nonpartisan School Board race. The tactic worked. Houston won a seat with a third place finish. Both major political parties at the state level commonly make candidate endorsements in nonpartisan races. Henderson County's major parties had avoided open involvement in the School Board race until two years ago.
"I think it sends a terrible message to young people," Edwards said. "High school kids understand that. The Republican Party to me seems at times to have an image problem with younger voters. We need to attract them to the party, not push them away."