Endorsement vote is critical for school board candidates
Whichever candidate gets the most votes at the committee’s April 24 endorsement meeting is likely to become the next school board member. That’s because getting that endorsement is absolutely critical.
As a result, the number of people joining the committee – and thus eligible to vote at the endorsement meeting – has skyrocketed in the past couple of months.
Whoever the Mason committee recommends for endorsement is highly likely to get the endorsement of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) at its May 21 meeting. The endorsement of at-large school board candidates will follow a similar path.
Unlike the race for supervisor, the school board election is considered nonpartisan, so there is no primary election. Instead, the parties endorse candidates, and whoever is endorsed gets resources from the party and gets their name on campaign literature and on the sample ballot handed out by campaign volunteers on Election Day – as well as the actual ballot. The FCDC also asks that the person they didn’t endorse pledge not to run as an independent.
The FCDC endorsement is “like a golden ticket to victory,” says FCDC Executive Director Frank Anderson (no relation to Ricardy Anderson).
In urging people to join the MCDC, several campaigns have been exploiting a loophole in the committee’s bylaws that allow people to join regardless of age.
“Some candidates are gaming the system by adding more people,” Frank Anderson says. “The other candidates have no choice but play the same game.”
This effort reportedly started with at-large candidate Abrar Omeish, who’s campaign team is mostly made up of high school students and who had encouraged large numbers of teens to join the MDDC.
That is within the rules as there is no minimum age requirement, says Anderson of FCDC. “It does look like people are signing up teenagers,” and not just in Mason District, but there’s no way to change the rules at this point.
According to a member of the MDDC board, about 200 new members joined since January. It isn’t known how many, if any, are children or teenagers, but a few membership applications were rejected from people who don’t live in Mason District. The deadline to join the committee was March 22.
It’s not just happening in Mason District; Frank Anderson reports that more than 1,000 people joined FCDC in the past month.
People can join the committee online and aren’t asked to give their birth date or be registered to vote. It costs $40 to join, but that fee is often waived.
Due to the high turnout expected at the MDDC endorsement meeting on April 24, the location was changed from the Mason District Government Center to Annandale High School.
New members of the Democratic committees for each of the county’s magisterial committees, are automatically considered members of the FCDC. At the next FCDC meeting on March 26, about 400 new members are expected to be voted in as a group. The endorsement process for at-large candidates will also be finalized at that meeting.
While Anderson of FCDC agrees that children shouldn’t be allowed to join the committee, “students in the schools have a lot of skin in the game in the election. There are people who are 65 years old on the committee and don’t know what’s going on in the schools.”
He suggested young people who want to be involved join the Fairfax Young Democrats which is open to people age 13 to 35.
FCDC membership rules can only be changed in two consecutive FCDC meetings, and the FCDC only meets once a month, so there’s no time to make changes for this election cycle.
Meanwhile, FCDC’s Anderson says, the FCDC welcomes people who want to be active in the committee and stay engaged. “If there are new members who are not going to be involved in electing Democratic candidates, that’s just going to be deadweight,” and reaching a quorum of 30 will be impossible.
At this point there are no Republican school board candidates in Mason District.
3 responses to “Endorsement vote is critical for school board candidates”
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I agree, the committee must "play by the rules". FCDC must welcome students who are qualified and involved according to its CURRENT rules. This is how Democrats attract young political activists to bump new young blood into the party.
A clarification: I didn't say that children should not join the committee; I said the current rules allow for someone who is TOO young to join. But it's hard to say what the minimum age should be. The Young Dems requirement of age 13 is a good guideline. But regardless, we require that before someone can be voted on as a member, we need to have a conversation with them to confirm that they understand what they're signing up for.
"At this point there are no Republican school board candidates in Mason District." ???
All school board members are supposed to be independents. It is a sad, sad situation that party politics now run our schools.
I've been told children as young as 14 will be allowed to vote to "endorse" a school board candidate.