Olathe conservative led on election night. That’s changed in a race too close to call
Update: The Johnson County election office is still counting ballots. Here’s the latest.
A hotly contested Olathe school board seat remained too close to call on Wednesday when, with additional votes counted, the race flipped in favor of a different candidate.
Jennifer Gilmore, who ran as one of three conservatives in the school board race, opposing mask mandates and critical race theory, had the lead Tuesday night. She appeared to win with 50% of the vote, ahead of Julie Steele, who considers herself a moderate, with 49.9%. The candidates were separated by only 32 votes.
But with additional mail-in ballots counted Wednesday, Steele took the lead, with 50%, to Gilmore’s 49.9%. Wednesday night, Steele was ahead by 24 votes.
Kansas law allows mail ballots postmarked on Election Day to be counted through Friday, which could change the results of closer races. Final results will be certified after the canvass next week.
Also, a race in Blue Valley remained too close to call. School board candidate Jim McMullen, a conservative, was in the lead on Wednesday with 50.1%, over challenger Lindsay Weiss, with 49.8%. McMullen was ahead by 80 votes.
It’s a critical outcome for the Olathe school board. A win from Gilmore would likely give conservative board members enough votes to turn down the mask mandate or push through other parts of their agendas.
Steele is a former special education and early childhood teacher in Olathe schools. She said her priorities include student safety, addressing staffing shortages exacerbated by the pandemic and increasing the diversity of a district leadership that “does not match what our community looks like.”
On COVID-19, Steele has said she sides with the science and public health officials’ expert opinions.
Gilmore is a former planning commissioner for the city of Gardner. She has worked in several school districts as a substitute teacher, payroll and compliance coordinator and high school bookkeeper. She disagrees with the district’s mask mandate and believes the “district has done a poor job navigating the pandemic and communication with our school community.”
She also believes that the district has not been transparent enough with its diversity initiatives. She has spoken out against critical race theory, a legal framework that considers the historical and present impact and causes of structural inequality and racism. It is not taught in Kansas K-12 schools, according to the state school board.
In other Olathe school board races, as of Wednesday, two other conservatives were still in the lead. Robert Kuhn was winning with 55.3%, defeating incumbent Kristin Schultz, with 44.3%.
And Brian Connell had received 53.6%, defeating incumbent Brian Geary, 45.9%.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 5:55 PM.
