The race for Georgia state school superintendent is like musical chairs. There are way too many entries for what’s available. When the music stops on Election Day on May 20, one candidate has as good a shot as any. That’s exaggeration only by a little.
Superintendent is the only open seat for a statewide office this year. And there is raging controversy in education and government circles about statewide policy. Still there are few signs that voters are paying any mind to the nine Republicans and six Democrats seeking the seat of current superintendent and gubernatorial candidate John Barge.
Race could be the underlying theme in a positive way. Attorney and education activist Ashley Bell (a man) is from Hall County. A former Democrat, the African-American Bell has advantages. The state and even national GOP establishments are pushing him as a black that can convert middle class blacks to the Republican side.
At last count Bell led the Republican field in both the polls and in fundraising. But a lead in the polls is precarious in a primary race in which 30 percent of the vote might be a ‘landslide.’ The same dynamic plays out in fundraising: What is $200,000 compared to $100,000 when neither will buy significant TV airtime?
And Bell’s home base is in Hall County, home of Gov. Nathan Deal and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. In the low-turnout primary that’s expected, this could be a difference-maker. Plus, Bell has had a talk radio program in northeast Georgia. That’s free name ID. Finally, Bell’s name will be near the top of the ballot. That can be a deciding factor in a race among unknowns.
Thickening the plot is another Republican black with a shot at winning. Fitz Johnson is a former military officer and defense contractor who is best known for founding the Atlanta Beat professional women’s soccer team.
A runoff between Bell and Johnson could bring outsized media focus to race – even national media. And if either man becomes superintendent he will then become a name mentioned for perhaps Congress or even governor.
Other Republicans with a shot:
Mary Kay Bacallao, a tea party activist and opponent of Common Core, the national, voluntary classroom standards that have made controversy. Her name will be first on the ballot.
Mike Buck, a chief lieutenant to state school superintendent John Barge, who is running for governor. Buck styles himself as Barge’s natural successor and the torchbearer for Common Core. Buck’s name also puts him near the top of the ballot.
Nancy Jester, a former DeKalb school board member with a track record as a reformer.
Richard Woods, who ran for superintendent four years ago.
In the Democratic primary, all six candidates are African-American. Two of them may have the money and other support that give them a solid shot at a runoff.
One is Decatur’s Valarie Wilson. This former head of the Georgia School Boards Association has the education establishment behind her, and of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May.
The other leading Democrat appears to be state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan of Austell.
Common Core is not the big deal among voters it is among government and civic elites. As with any comprehensive program of classroom standards, there have been problems with Common Core.
More to the point, many people, especially Republicans and other conservatives, passionately advocate the repeal of Common Core. (At least for now, Gov. Deal isn’t one of them.) They say Common Core is replete with assumptions that amount to a leftist political and social agenda.
But polls show the public is thinking about other things. Common Core likely will have an impact on the primaries only if turnout is especially low. Ideologues can have an oversized impact when few others vote.
Whoever becomes state school superintendent won’t have much constitutional power. The governor appoints the school board, and by no stretch does the
superintendent ‘run Georgia schools.’ Being ambassador to and for Georgia schools is much of the job. Local boards and administrators mostly govern public schools.
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