Two SPS board candidates with most votes backed by United Springfield
It may be impossible to quantify the exact impact a new political action committee had on the outcome of the April 2 school board race but the two top vote-getters credited United Springfield with helping their message reach more voters.
The United Springfield PAC, formed in late October, endorsed and financially supported first-time candidate Susan Provance and incumbents Danielle Kincaid and Scott Crise.
Collectively, the three endorsed candidates received nearly 45% of the 74,463 votes cast in seven-candidate race — even though Crise, who came in No. 6, did not win a seat.
Provance, a retired Springfield teacher and coach and member of the Springfield Public Schools Hall of Fame, won more than 18% of the votes. Kincaid, an attorney, followed with 16.9%.
They will be sworn in April 9 along with incumbent Maryam Mohammadkhani — who received the most votes when she ran in 2021 but placed third this year with about 15.6% of the votes. The retired pathologist narrowly beat Landon McCarter, a business owner and entrepreneur, by 320 votes to earn a second term.
Following the election, United Springfield PAC co-chairs Jim Anderson and Terri McQueary said this election was just its first effort to back candidates for local, nonpartisan roles.
"We remain committed to creating and even better Springfield and today, we go back to work," said Anderson and McQueary, in a joint statement. "Our work is just beginning."
They also reiterated the mission of the group: "To support candidates who would unite our children, citizens and community and move us forward."
"The top two vote recipients in the Springfield school board race were United Springfield endorsed candidates. Both Susan Provance and Danielle Kincaid were endorsed because they are committed to doing what is best for kids and moving our school board past this era of polarization," said Anderson and McQueary.
"We are grateful for all who chose to run for office and offer our congratulations to each of the winning candidates."
All seven candidates on the April 2 ballot sought the endorsement of the United Springfield PAC. The others include Chad Rollins and Kyler ShermanWilkins.
Speaking of polarization, the board has been plagued by a series of 4-3 votes on a range of topics in recent years, including:
h Extending the contract of the Superintendent Grenita Lathan;
h Rejecting a request made by Mohammadkhani for the board to support Senate Bill 814, which seeks to strip the Missouri Board of Education of the authority to use state-mandated tests, or other measures, to accredit districts;
h Adding "gender identity and sexual orientation" to the list of reasons the district cannot discriminate against students when it comes to providing school meals, a change required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for districts that participate in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program;
h Joining the Alliance for Healthcare Education with partners CoxHealth, Missouri State University and Ozarks Technical Community College;
h Electing Kincaid as president and Crise as vice president of the board.
In the split votes, Kincaid and Crise voted in the majority along with Shurita Thomas-Tate, elected to a second term in 2023, and either Denise Fredrick — a former member whose term ended a year ago — or Judy Brunner, elected in her place.
Board members voting in the minority include Mohammadkhani, Kelly Byrne and Steve Makoski. Byrne and Makoski were elected in 2022. All terms run for three years.
In a recent interview, Anderson said he was hopeful the PAC's commitment to not engage in negative campaigning helped squelch the anonymous and attack ads that were present in recent elections.
The new PAC was formed, in part, to fill a vacuum created when the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce opted to stop creating task forces to vet, interview and back candidates in school board races.
The PAC raised more than $134,000 in cash donations and in-kind services, according to reports filed prior to the election with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The largest donation was $50,000 by Jeffrey Hutchens, president of Hutchens Industries, but the group also received donations, of various amounts, from more than 50 community and business leaders, including former school board and city officials.
The PAC donated $20,000 each to Provance, Kincaid and Crise to be spent on TV advertising. In addition, it provided $10,000 or more in in-kind support, to each of the three candidates, for video shoots, video productions and digital advertising.
Kincaid, elected for the first time in 2021, said receiving the endorsement after serving three years was meaningful.
"Anytime a group of community leaders endorses the work you've done on the school board, it is a major benefit to the campaign," said Kincaid, a partner in the Elder Law Group. "The community endorsements and financial support we've received helped us communicate the progress we've made with the voters of Springfield."
Kincaid added: "I would encourage any candidate to develop their plan of how to move our schools forward around our community's shared values. That's what I've done and it has resonated with voters in each of my elections."
Provance, a first-time candidate, said the help was signficant.
"I ran for one very simple reason: To do what's best for kids. The challenge as a first-time candidate is getting your message to tens of thousands of voters in a relatively tight, short campaign," she said. "I was fortunate to earn the endorsements of a number of groups, including United Springfield, who helped provide the financial support we needed to carry our message to voters."
Provance she said believed, from the outset, that a candidate must "run for the right reason and be yourself and the support you need will follow."
"Campaigns are challenging and competitive," Provance said. "But, if you keep the focus on the kids, you will find the experience incredibly rewarding."