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The only two Republican members of the State Board of Education are up for reelection this fall and are running against six other candidates.
The two seats are at-large, which means the Nov. 5 elections will be won by votes from across the state and not by specific districts. The two candidates with the highest number of votes will win the two board seats.
Incumbents Tom McMillin, of Oakland Township, and Nikki Snyder, of Dexter, won their first terms in 2016, when Republican President Donald Trump won Michigan.
Since then, Democrats gained control of the state legislature for the first time in 40 years, by a slim margin in 2022 and again in April through special elections. Democrats’ control of the state will be tested again in November as the entire House is up for reelection.
Political and education leaders will be watching whether the effect of sharing the ballot with the presidential and other state races will have an impact on the outcome of the board’s elections.
Two Democrats, including one who previously served in the House, are running against McMillin and Snyder. Candidates from the Libertarian, U.S. Taxpayers, and Working Class parties are also in the race.
The state board can make policy recommendations to legislators and has hiring and firing power over the state superintendent of schools. It has no power to pass laws. Board members serve eight-year terms.
Here are the candidates who filed to run for the board and what we know about some of them:
- Scotty Boman, a Libertarian from Detroit, is a K-12 substitute teacher and also teaches at Macomb Community College and Wayne County Community College District. He founded Detroit Residents Advancing Civilian Oversight, which says it educates about the role of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, and serves on several local boards.
- Ted Gerrard is a member of the U.S. Taxpayers party from Grand Rapids. Chalkbeat could not reach Gerrard by phone or email.
- Mary Anne Hering, a member of the Working Class Party from Dearborn, is retired from teaching social science at Henry Ford Community College. She previously ran for the state board in 2016, 2018, and 2020.
- Theodore Jones, a Democrat from Detroit, is the senior accountant for talent initiatives at Global Detroit, a nonprofit that works to include immigrants in the economy. Previously, he worked as a central office administrator for Detroit Public Schools Community District.
- Tom McMillin is a Republican incumbent who was elected in 2016. He was a representative in the House from 2009 to 2014 and owns a public accounting firm. He is a father of three.
- Christine C. Schwartz is a member of the U.S. Taxpayers party from Jenison. Chalkbeat could not reach Schwartz by phone or email.
- Nikki Snyder is a Republican incumbent who was elected in 2016. She is a mother of three children in public schools and has experience as a disability advocate.
- Adam Frederick Zemke, a Democrat from Ann Arbor, served in the House from 2013 to 2019. He is an appointed member of the state’s MiSTEM Advisory Council, which works to make Michigan a leader in science, technology, engineering, and math education.
Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
