The timing was incidental. Members of a newly formed political action committee say they formed to get involved in races for non-partisan local governmental boards, including the Springfield Board of Education and the Springfield City Council.
The first race United Springfield will get involved with deals with a school board that has struggled with finding unity.
Announced on Monday, United Springfield formed in response to increased attention from state and national partisan groups on local, non-partisan boards and offices. It has plans to support non-partisan candidates who meet the group’s mission of non-partisanship and uniting Springfield community members.
The founders of United Springfield say ideal candidates will work to protect strong community partnerships that focus on civil discourse and common ground.
“Our goal is to be for someone, not against someone,” said United Springfield co-chair Terri McQueary. “We will be positive and supportive. I’m a firm believer that this is going to work.”
The committee hopes to counter a trend of political polarization and an unwillingness to compromise, said co-chair Jim Anderson.
“In a sense, it is all around us,” Anderson said. “What we hope is that we will be a contrast to that. Instead of polarization, we’ll focus on community building, partnership and civil discourse.”
Polarization seen on board of education
The Springfield Board of Education has wrangled with debates rooted in partisanship over the last year, and as recently as an October board meeting.
Two policy changes that would have allowed Springfield Public Schools to comply with recently changed USDA guidelines in order to receive money for free and reduced-price lunches had been on the board’s agenda for the previous two meetings. In both cases, it could not pass after board members Kelly Byrne, Steve Makoski and Maryam Mohammadkhani voted against it.
The policies would have added the parenthetical phrase “(including gender identity and sexual orientation)” after “sex” in a paragraph prohibiting discrimination. Each of the three dissenting board members gave personal reasons for their votes against the measures, but repeated or paraphrased language used by state and national Republicans to oppose the USDA’s standards.
The Springfield school board’s discussion paused for 10 minutes so that a last-minute open letter, submitted by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and posted to his X account, could be read. Bailey joined 21 other Republican attorneys general in a suit to block the Biden administration’s policy.
The group of Byrne, Makoski and Mohammadkhani voted together in other split votes that touch on partisan culture-war issues over the last year, including a resolution supporting LGBTQ+ people and the removal of Mohammadkhani as board vice-president over her behavior at a student session about mental health.
Last two races drew attack ads
The 2023 race, which resulted in the election of incumbent Shurita Thomas-Tate and newcomer Judy Brunner over newcomers Landon McCarter and Chad Rollins, was marked by thousands of campaign dollars being raised and spent.
A total of $210,203.09 was raised by the four candidates during the election cycle, with $175,076.78 being spent, according to reports from the Missouri Ethics Commission:
- Brunner: $87,123.96 raised, $79,277.23 spent
- Thomas-Tate: $59,813.93 raised, $52,352.57 spent
- McCarter: $48,104 raised, $33,104 spent
- Rollins: $15,161.20 raised, $10,342.98 spent
Other political action committees got involved in the race. Back on Track America PAC raised $42,059.06 and spent $30,752.81 campaigning for McCarter and Collins, as well as $2,400 in direct contributions to the two.
That money bought a negative ad targeting Thomas-Tate and advocating votes for McCarter and Collins to partner with members Kelly Byrne, Steve Makoski and Maryam Mohammadkhani.
A PAC based out of Columbia, Missouri, named SWMO Forward funded an attack ad against Thomas-Tate and Brunner, accusing them of having “hatred of American values.” SWMO Forward raised $47,100 and spent $63,000 during the campaign, and also made $6,000 in contributions.
Another PAC, named Advance, raised $12,211 during the 2023 election and made contributions of $8,499, including $2,833 each to Brunner and Thomas-Tate.
All three of those PACs have continued to file reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission indicating they remain active.
Upcoming approach for spring 2024
United Springfield plans to get involved in the upcoming school board election set for April 2, 2024.
The seats for Mohammadkhani, Board President Danielle Kincaid and Board Vice President Scott Crise will be up for election.
The period for candidates to file runs from Dec. 5-Dec. 26. Interested candidates must have lived within the Springfield Public Schools district for at least a year, be 24 years old or older and submit signatures from 500 registered voters who live in the district.
McQueary said United Springfield's plans involve studying which candidates best meet the PAC's mission. So far, McQueary has received positive feedback from both Republicans and Democrats, she said.
“I’ve been overwhelmed at the response,” McQueary said. “A lot of people have reached out to say they want to support us. What I take from that is that it feels like a compliment. People have seen who is on our steering committee to help evaluate candidates.”
The two co-chairs come from different political backgrounds. McQueary leads Greene County’s Republican Party, and Anderson, former president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, said he has usually voted Democratic.
Neither has felt pressure from their respective parties about United Springfield's mission — all the feedback has been supportive, they said.
Anderson said the group is ready to get to work.
“We just had an organizational steering committee last week, and we’re very much in a start-up phase,” Anderson said. “A lot of details are yet to be determined, but we’re ready to roll up our sleeves.”
Editor’s note: Jim Anderson serves as one of five members of the Hauxeda Board of Directors. His involvement with the board has no bearing on editorial decisions related to coverage of United Springfield.
