In early returns, Springfield school board is close with Hough, Smart holding small lead
In early returns Tuesday, Sarah Hough and Gail Smart were leading — but just barely — in a four-way race to fill two seats on the Springfield school board.
The candidates include incumbent Kelly Byrne, managing partner of Say You Can; Sarah Hough, senior manager for community and outfitter engagement at Bass Pro Shops; David Myers, aircraft paint technician and staff sergeant in the U.S. Army National Guard; and Gail Smart, an attorney and community volunteer.
Candidates have remained largely civil, especially in public forums, and focused on their experience and priorities as well as what voters can expect of them if elected.
The two candidates with the most votes will be sworn in April 15 and serve three-year at-large terms alongside board members Judy Brunner, Danielle Kincaid, Maryam Mohammadkhani, Susan Provance and Shurita Thomas-Tate.
Board member Steve Makoski, elected alongside Byrne in 2022, did not run for another term.
The seven-member governing board sets policy, approves an annual budget, and hires and evaluates the superintendent.
Endorsements
Two groups that represent school employees, Teamsters Local No. 245 and the Springfield chapter of the Missouri State Teachers Association, took the rare step of endorsing three candidates even though there are only two open seats.
In this election cycle, two Springfield-based political action committees were heavily involved: Back on Tack America PAC, active since 2022, and United Springfield PAC, which formed in late 2023.
Three years after the Greene Count Democrats broke with tradition and issued an endorsement in a nonpartisan school board race — a move the group has not repeated in the years since — the Greene County Republican Central Committee endorsed two candidates, and paid for campaign mailers, this year.
A late endorsement came from Moms for America, a conservative education advocacy organization formerly known as Homemakers for America. The pro-Trump group protested school mask mandates during the pandemic and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
A look at the key endorsements:
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Back On Track America PAC − Byrne and Myers;
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Greene County Republican Central Committee − Byrne and Myers:
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Moms for America − Byrne and Myers;
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Springfield’s Missouri State Teachers Association − Byrne, Hough and Smart:
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Springfield National Education Association − Byrne and Hough;
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Teamsters Local No. 245 − Byrne, Hough and Myers;
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United Springfield PAC − Hough and Smart;
TV campaign ads
Three of the four board candidates have been running campaign advertisement on KYTV, commonly known as KY3, including Byrne, Hough and Smart.
The 30-second spots featured candidates’ priorities and endorsements. Byrne, the sole incumbent, also talked about his record on specific issues. None of the ads attacked other candidates.
In all, the three spent $104,747 — $47,163 by Smart, $40,197 by Hough and $17,487 by Byrne — for a total of more than 350 spots. Provance was visible in one of the TV ads for Hough.
Separately, the Back on Track America PAC spent $17,487 to run spots supporting Byrne and Myers.
The PAC-funded spots featured former state Rep. Roy Holand, who served from 1996 to 2000 and board member Mohammadkhani, among others.
A late order for TV ads, uploaded the morning of the election, was from the Moms for America group backing Byrne and Myers. The details were not yet visible.
Hough and Smart sent text messages with links or videos to likely voters in the days leading up the election. Provance was featured in one of the text messages supporting Smart.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: In early returns, SPS board race close with Hough, Smart leading
