In some Linn County school board races, conservative activism sways fundraising, state reports show

Editor’s note: This article was updated to clarify that Linn-Mar school board candidate Kevin Slaman is part of the Linn County Moms for Liberty chapter Facebook group but is not a member of the chapter.

CEDAR RAPIDS — In Linn County, the trickle-down effect of state and national politics seems to have swayed campaign donors in some Cedar Rapids and Linn-Mar school board races that are on the ballot Nov. 7, with right-leaning candidates outraising some incumbents.

The “culture war” issues that have dominated state and national politics have trickled into nonpartisan school board races on topics ranging from the whether to include LGBTQ rights and race in classroom material to which books should stay on shelves in school libraries.

Here’s where fundraising came in for Cedar Rapids and Linn-Mar school board races. Data comes from the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure board reports for the period spanning the whole election cycle until 10 days before the election.

Cedar Rapids school board

Two at-large seats

In the race for Cedar Rapids school board seats, incumbent Cindy Garlock, a retired educator, topped the field of five candidates in fundraising, receiving $4,010 in campaign contributions, according to an Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure board report.

Garlock entered the race with $2,728 on hand and took out a $1,000 loan for her campaign. She ended the period with $2,728 in her campaign account. Among her campaign donors were the Hawkeye Area Labor Council, Cedar Rapids City Council member Pat Loeffler, at-large council candidate David Maier, state Rep. Art Staed and former state Sen. Rob Hogg, both Cedar Rapids Democrats.

The two candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty-Linn County raised the second and third most money. Moms for Liberty is a conservative political organization that advocates against school curriculum discussing LGBTQ rights or race and ethnicity. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights watchdog, identified the nationwide nonprofit as an extremist group earlier this year.

One of those candidates, Richard David, reported raising $3,640 with $532 left on hand. The other, Barclay Woerner, who works for Amazon Logistics, raised $4,342, with $1,093 of that being donations to his own campaign. He reported having $330 left. Among his expenditures was $121 for a Linn County Republican Central Committee fundraiser.

Incumbent Jennifer Neumann, chief executive officer of de Novo Marketing in Cedar Rapids, came into the race with $872.78 on hand and raised another $147, ending the period with $463.29.

A coalition — made up of the Iowa State Education Association, Progress Iowa, Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Action Fund, and One Iowa Action — have endorsed Garlock and Neumann.

Don Taylor, a retired educator, did not file a report. Candidates do not have to file a report if they neither raised nor spent more than $1,000.

District 1

Incumbent David Tominsky, chief relationship officer at NewBoCo, and his challenger Stacie Johnson, sustainability manager at Goodwill of the Heartland, did not file reports.

District 4

Kaitlin Byers, capital access manager at Kiva Iowa, who’s looking to unseat Dexter Merschbrock, outraised the incumbent with $1,940, ending the period with $487.

Merschbrock, a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, reported raising $755 and taking out a $250 loan for his campaign. He has $695 left in his campaign coffers.

Linn-Mar school board

In a race where national politics surrounding LGBTQ rights has taken center stage, openly conservative candidates vying for four seats on the Linn-Mar School Board are among the top fundraisers in the eight-way race.

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Marion Republican whose kids attend school in the district, and former Vice President Mike Pence during his failed bid for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination, have criticized the district’s gender support policy for LGBTQ students — bringing the local issue into the national spotlight.

Laura Steffeck, a business owner endorsed by Moms for Liberty, reported raising $9,148 and took out a $1,550 loan. She reported having $2,980 at the end of the reporting period.

Kevin Slaman, a wholesale representative at Aluminum Distributors who also is part of the local Moms for Liberty chapter Facebook group and received its endorsement, raised $4,215 and took out a $2,000 loan. He ended the period with $1,120 on hand. He reported a $450 in-kind contribution for a fundraiser held by Hinson.

Katie Lowe Lancaster, pastor of First Lutheran Church, raised $3,373 and took out a $250 loan. She ended the period with $506.

Tom Law, who retired from Collins Aerospace and is endorsed by Moms for Liberty, raised $2,000 and has $323 on hand.

Jodi Treharne, NextGen Healthcare, reported raising no money but reported $2,272 in in-kind contributions from herself to cover advertising and other campaign expenses.

Incumbent Brittania Morey, vice president of marketing and communications at the Iowa College Access Network, reported raising $1,980 and having $355 on hand. She has some support from the political arms of local labor unions, including Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 125 and Hawkeye Area Labor Council AFL-CIO, as well as state Rep. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids.

Justin Foss, senior strategic project manager at Alliant Energy, raised $1,961 and took out a $900 loan. He ended the period with $811.

Incumbent Barry Buchholz, financial adviser at Buchholz Financial Services, reported $447 in in-kind contributions from himself for campaign signs.

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