Dear Washington Republicans,

As last night's election results pour in, with more to follow, one thing has already become clear - conservatives are dominating in bellwether school board races.

Over the last 3 months the WAGOP has been hyper-focused on getting great conservatives elected to school boards. 6 weeks ago we identified 36 bellwether school board races based on political leaning, geography, voting coalitions, etc. that would help determine the future of Washington State's political direction and the movement our Republican Party is making. If we succeeded in these races, then it means our revamped messaging and new boots-on-the-ground political strategies are working. I'm ecstatic to be able to say that THEY ARE WORKING.

Conservative school board candidates are winning 30 out of 36 bellwether races (83% win rate), and that number can continue to rise as late ballots trend our way and take the lead later in the week. To put that into perspective, in 2021 during the last local elections, WA Democrats bragged about a 65% win rate for their candidates.

This is a positive sign for all Washington Republicans as we head into 2024 to elect common-sense conservative leaders for State Legislature, Governor, and other statewide offices. Our revamped common-sense issues-based messaging and boots-on-the-ground approach to campaigning is working! 

These common-sense conservative candidates in the bellwether school board races got some or all of the following types of support from the WAGOP:

• Help with establishing campaign strategies
• Fundraising advice, tools and assistance
• Data tools—including precinct-prioritization lists, walk lists, etc.
• Help with developing and implementing direct mail efforts
• Support in developing policy positions, messaging and campaign teams
• Assistance with canvassing, phone-banking and community outreach
• Get Out the Vote support

You can check the results for yourself by referencing the list of school board candidates below, but here are the top line results:

- 30 candidates are winning
- 4 races are too close to call
- 2 candidates are trailing

The list of 36 bellwether school board races (these do not include all of the local races we helped support, just the 36 bellwether school board races that best determine future outcomes of voter trends and the positive movement our Party is making with our revamped political programs):

Amanda Miller - La Center School District
Anniece Barker - Central Valley School District
Antonio Machado Catano - Ferndale School District
Bill Hauss - Yelm Community Schools              
Carmen Weishaar - Odessa School District
Chuck Whitfield - Monroe School District   
Dan Peters - Selah School District               
Deborah Nesper - Oroville School District
Don Wiitala - Longview School District
Frank Kline - Methow Valley School District
Gary Wilson - Evergreen School District          
Gretchen Miles, Joseph Romero, Shannon Burch - Puyallup School District
Jim Grose - Central Kitsap School District
Joan Marie Murphy - Federal Way School District
Jory Anderson - Sunnyside School District
Kandice Merz - Wahkiakum School District
Karen Lesetmoe - Oak Harbor School District
Lindy Mullen Doyle - Sedro-Woolley School District
Melissa Petrini - Highline School District
Michael Cannon, Alan Nolan, Jennifer Killman - Mead School District
Michael Rocha - Sequim School District                       
Michelle Simmons -  Meridian School District
Mike Desmond - North Kitsap School District
Patrick Peacock - Tahoma School District               
Peter Finn - Riverside School District
Rich Wesen - Burlington-Edison School District   
Ron R. Powers - Sultan School District                       
Sherri Larkin - Snohomish School District
Steve Wolcott - West Valley School District
Susie Hawes - Rochester School District
Tanya Naillon - Onalaska School District
Todd Snarr - Asotin School District