It’s no secret that the historically nonpartisan election has become a partisan battle in Douglas County this year—not a battle between Democrats and Republicans, but one between four GOP-endorsed candidates and four candidates endorsed by the local teacher’s union (two of whom are Republicans).

The campaign has been ugly for weeks, featuring high-flown Glenn Beck-style doom and gloom rhetoric and accusations.

Better times in Douglas County (dcgop)

In an email to potential funders October 22, Douglas County Republican party chairman John Ransom argued that groups with ties to “ACORN and other extreme left-wing causes” were organizing in Douglas County to help promote their school board candidates of choice.

“If these groups defeat our Republican-endorsed local School Board candidates: Doug Benevento, John Carson, Dan Gerken and Meghann Silverthorn,” wrote Ransom, “then there is no telling what else they will try to do in our County.”

Gross disrespect for Republican candidates

The vague assertions have frustrated some Douglas County Republicans. They lead, for example, to the October 13 resignation of Republican Rick Murray, captain of the Tenth District, who cited his frustration with the current GOP leadership.

“I am not breaking with my party, and will still be very active and a contributing member,” Murray explained to the Colorado Independent, by email. “I will still chair the Highlands Ranch monthly breakfast, and support candidates of my choice.  I will still work with and sustain candidates who I feel have their principles and positions aligned with what I believe.  Nothing will change in that area.

“I will not continue working with the present leadership of the Douglas County Republican Party, due to their gross disrespect for all legitimate Republican candidates for office.  They are free to support their choice, under certain bylaw restrictions, but they are obligated by principle to respect all candidates.  They have not done this, and will not receive my support in the future.

“The school board election did bring this problem to the surface, but was not the deciding factor of my resignation as a district captain.  There are six Republican candidates running for positions on the board, and all deserve the equal respect of the officers and party.”

Also in October, Republican, and Douglas County educator Mike Erickson publicly expressed his frustration with the leadership of the Douglas County Party in a letter to several news outlets, including the Colorado Independent.

“As a taxpayer, Republican, former business leader, and current educator, I am appalled at the misleading information and unethical rhetoric that has overshadowed this election,” wrote Erickson.  “Instead of fostering scare tactics and political partisan gains, as a community we need to be focused on preparing our students to embrace a rapidly evolving future.” In his letter, Erickson went on to detail what he felt were falsehoods propagated by the Republican party.

At least one Republican candidate, targeted by GOP rhetoric, says she will leave the party.

“I am planning to switch my party affiliation to an unaffiliated voter, as I don’t want to be associated with the foul type of behavior that the Douglas County Republicans have displayed,” Kristine Turner wrote in an email to the Colorado Independent.

A training session for 2010

Both Turner and fellow Republican Kevin Leung have been criticized by the Republican Party since receiving the endorsement of the Douglas County Federation of Teachers. Recent Robo calls, emails and op-eds have tied them to the AFL-CIO and/or ACORN, and some have alleged that the four union-endorsed candidates will unionize charter schools, promote wasteful spending, or allow the unions to control school curriculum.

“It’s just horrible,” said Leung, of the allegations being lobbied against him. Leung, a Republican, pointed out that he is a three-time county delegate. And though he received the endorsement of the Douglas County Teachers’ Federation, he has not accepted any union money.

Leung likens the party’s heavy involvement in the school board election, in part, to a sort of training session for the 2010 election.

“To energize its supporters to help in this election, the Douglas County Republican Party is portraying this election as a trial run for next year by testing its new phone bank system and robocalls and mailings techniques,” he said. “The party needs to show a big win to energize its base. If we lose in our own backyard, this will be devastating.”

Turner—pointing out that in two recent elections, she received both the Republican and union endorsement—attributed the ugly politics of the race to a rightward swing of the local party.

“I think this is an effort of the far right to have control over the school board and to implement a far right agenda along the lines of charter schools and vouchers and more of a privatization of public education,” argued Turner. “And I think that is pretty common thinking.”

Turner worried that Douglas County is only a microcosm of a larger nationwide trend in which candidates have to move to the extreme right or left to earn support.

Just politics

But John Ransom, chair of the Douglas County Republican party, argued that ensuring choice in education is part of the Republican party platform.

“Typically, Democrats want one type of school,” he contended. “A union-run school, where the union dictate how everything is run, and dictate the curriculum. Republicans want to give choice and let the marketplace work it out.”

Asked if he thinks his election tactics have alienated local Republicans, Ransom said “there’s always going to be that segment of the population that’s not going to be happy.”

“Obama is considered kind of popular and he’s only got 52 percent approval rating,” he noted.

Ransom discounted Mike Erickson’s letter, for example, by pointing out that Erickson is a teacher. “I would especially think that professional educators might be a little concerned because they typically align themselves with the union,” he said.

Pressed as to whether Republican rhetoric, specifically, might have alienated GOP voters, Ransom said “I mean, that’s what political parties do. Is there anything untrue?”

Are the two union-endorsed GOP candidates really aligned with ACORN?

Ransom argued that the registered agent for a 527 campaign group that receives funding from the American Federation of Teachers, which is affiliated with the Douglas County Teachers’ Federation, is a woman who used to work for a woman who runs ACORN in Denver.

“I mean, there’s definitely alignment,” he said.

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On Monday, Westword posted a fundraising email sent October 22 from John Ransom, chair of the Douglas County Republican Party, calling it a “hide-the-children” approach to electioneering,

As Chairman of the Douglas County Colorado Republican Party I write you with disturbing news. Liberal outside special interests are trying to influence our local Douglas County elections. They have contributed thousands of dollars to their hand-picked candidates. They set up shadowy groups to send mailers to Douglas County mailboxes. They are organizing to win local elections.

I am surprised as you are with their activities.

Later, Ransom contends that AFL-CIO, which is associated with the American Federation of Teachers, the parent organization for the Douglas County Federation of Teachers, has been “been spending millions upon millions to push a far left agenda nationally.”

If that is what they are doing on a national level… what could they possibly want to do here — on the local level in Douglas County? I shudder to think…

Meanwhile, at EdNews Colorado, Mike Erickson, a Republican and high school teacher in the Douglas County Public School system, details his frustration with the phone calls he has received from GOP bigwigs. All of them allege that Douglas County School District has become Ground Zero for unions fighting to take control of the country.

Most recently, Senator Ted Harvey… suggested (implied) in a “robo-call” that the AFL-CIO and ACORN together with the union where “helping implement Obama’s radical education agenda here in Douglas County.” 

Governor Bill Owens suggested on my phone the other day that his good friends (I find that hard to believe) are running and I needed to vote for them NOW.  He suggested the unions were spending all kinds of money and wanted to run our schools.  Where is the evidence?

At issue is still the question that Erickson asks:  What evidence proves the unions have pegged Douglas County School District as their first stop on a world-conquering tour?

Here is what the GOP does have evidence of:  the teachers’ union was the first to unofficially endorse some candidates, by way of contribution.  As noted by a comment below Erickson’s letter, the American Federation of Teachers gave contributions to one candidate as early as December, 2008, ($2,500 to Sue Catterall, according to the Secretary of State’s website)—long before the official Republican endorsements.

However,  not all of those who have been endorsed by the Douglas County Federation of Teachers have received union money. Kevin Leung has not received any money from AFT, nor has Kristine Turner (though she has received money from people affiliated with the local union and AFT). Those two candidates did not receive any endorsement until September, long after the GOP’s July endorsements.

There is also evidence, per the Secretary of State’s website, that the AFT has set up a 527 group to support its candidates and issues. The group, called “Accountability for Kids,” lists its purpose as “evaluating individuals in Douglas County on education issues and informing the public of this information.”

But the Douglas County GOP has provided no conclusive evidence to support its other, more damning, allegations:  that the Douglas County School Board election is AFL-CIO’s springboard for winning future elections in the county; that if union-supported candidates win the Douglas County School Board election, AFL-CIO will be better able to push its agenda in Douglas County; that the unions are trying to take over Douglas County Schools in order to control the curriculum and inject biases into the classroom; or that the unions hope to bring their alleged spendthrift and wasteful ways into the school district, in order to profit by way of union dues.

In fact, underneath the surface of Ransom’s “hide the children” tone is hedgy language. Ransom writes that the union goal is “likely” to use the Douglas County School Board election as a springboard for winning future elections. He writes vaguely and without evidence that “in some parts of the country” unions control teaching materials and inject biases into the classroom.

And for serious allegations—like a claim that the “entire goal” of the teacher’s union is to take complete control of Douglas County schools—his evidence is that “some have said” this.

“There is no telling what they might do in our County,” he writes. Perhaps because there’s nothing to tell, at least nothing remotely resembling the accusations made by Ransom.

To read the full text of John Ransom’s fundraising email, go here.

To read Mike Erickson’s letter and the ensuing debate, go here.

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