In Pennsylvania school board races, extremists who provoked battles over culture war issues were ousted. One winner said that parents looked forward to the days when school board meetings were “boring,” not divisive.
Pittsburgh’s NPR station WESA reported:
A slate of Democratic candidates won four seats on the Pine-Richland school board last night and unseated one incumbent with ties to a statewide movement of conservative education leaders.
The sweep capped an Election Day marked by Democratic victories in school board races statewide.
Pine-Richland electee Randy Augustine and his peers on the Together for PR slate won over voters with slogans like “excellence over extremism.”
“School board positions are theoretically supposed to be non-partisan, non-political positions,” Augustine said. “A number of the school board members were trying to push a political agenda, focusing on culture war issues, not focusing on the students.”
The Republican-led school board initiated policies that gave board members the final say over which books were included in school libraries and challenged books with LGBTQ characters. The district’s teachers union issued a vote of no confidence in the majority of school board members this spring.
“ It was becoming toxic, and the turmoil, I think, was spreading,” said fellow Together for PR winner Melissa Vecchi. “People just wanted to see it back to boring.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Pennsylvania showed its liberal side in this election, even in the western region which is more rural and conservative. From judges to school board races voters showed up to reject authoritarian governance and show their support for public education. Voters in Abington reinstated the existing school board members that were under attack from the right wing super wealthy contingent led by Jeffrey Yass. In Rockledge, a small borough in Abington where my mother’s family once lived, voted even passed a bond for a new middle school.
BTW when I was trying to read the link from TRIB Live, which was actually for PBS, I received a message which said, “If you are from Florida, this link has been disabled.” However, I found a work around.
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BTW there were 31 races around the country featuring M4L candidates, and they lost every single race. People are tuning out the diabolical baloney.
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yes! I would have answered sooner but I had breast cancer surgery today. Stage 1, so not so bad.
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Wishing you a speedy recovery! Take care of yourself.
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Thanks, RT.
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Krystal Ball noted on Breaking Points that Republicans may have miscalculated when drawing district maps based on assumptions about Latino voting patterns. In several races, those patterns shifted in ways that made GOP-designed districts unexpectedly competitive. She also pointed out that Democrats are becoming more strategic in redistricting where they have control, which could make some gerrymanders less effective going forward. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that her hopeful prediction proves true—voters don’t always behave the way models assume.
And Diane — I’m very sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but grateful it was caught at Stage 1. Wishing you a smooth and steady recovery.
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Thank you, David. Out-patient surgery and I’m feeling well.
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STOP THE CHEERING!!! LOOK, LISTEN…BEWARE.
What you see is an ominous signal posted by Trump, saying: “NOW IT BEGINS.”
Trump’s minions know that that means. It’s THE SIGNAL. They’ve been waiting for it.
The first phase of what THE SIGNAL triggers is already underway: The government shutdown to prevent the release of The Epstein Documents.
The shutdown was called because the election of Democratic Representative Adelita Grijalva means that if the House of Representatives were in session, she would sign the House Discharge Petition that would force the release of all the Epstein documents and videos.
So, House Speaker Johnson is keeping the government shut down while political pressure is being made to pressure the Republican Representatives who have signed the Discharge Petition to withdraw their signature. That political pressure hasn’t been enough, so “NOW IT BEGINS”: Political pressure now becomes threats against the representatives’ spouses and children.
“NOW IT BEGINS” means all limits are now off.
THE ATLANTIC has described on its podcast titled “Will 2026 Be a Fair Fight” just what that means. So, stop your cheering about the recent elections and get yourself ready to fight…and don’t expect a fair fight. It’s gonna get very ugly.
HERE’S WHAT the Atlantic describes as beginning now:
The Redistricting War escalates and expands. Political pressure and threats soar against election officials, causing many to resign and be replaced by MAGA minions.
That continues on, not only in Congress, but also in state legislatures until election night when there will be a decisive implementation of Trump’s previous tactics:
Soldiers and FBI agents arrest anyone who protests, and Trump declares Martial Law to keep people off the streets.
The stage for all this has been carefully set by powers that play The Long Game: The seeds of belief in election fraud were carefully planted years ago, have been carefully cultivated ever since, and will blossom in 2026 into a genuine coup.
So, stop your cheering about the recent elections and get organized for what has been set in motion by Trump’s “NOW IT BEGINS” signal.
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Thank you, quikwrit.
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I read that Moms For Liberty went 0-51 on school board candidates Tuesday. The source was Facebook, however, so maybe.
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Roy,
Glorious!
Glad that Moms for Their Own Liberty lost.
Or is it Moms to Take Away Your Liberty?
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