A sign directing voters to a polling site in Durham, where there is a contested Republican race for state House District 98. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
Three of the four open seats on the RSU 40 school board were filled by candidates who expressed disappointment over the body’s recent decision to revoke protections for transgender students.
“We did it. Every vote mattered. Thank you so very much for showing up for our kids,” wrote write-in candidate Leah Shipps, who won one of the open seats in Waldoboro.
The RSU 40 school board has 16 members who each represent one of the five towns the district spans — Union, Friendship, Waldoboro, Warren and Washington.
Alongside Shipps, voters selected Ben Stickney for the other open seat in Waldoboro. Warren voters picked incumbent Naomi Aho for another term. And in Union, voters chose Rachel Wilcox by a narrow margin of just nine votes.
In a Facebook post after the results were tallied, Wilcox said her race was “a perfect example that every single vote counts.” She added that the narrow margin is “not lost” on her.
Steve Karp lost his race to represent Waldoboro and said it was a “sad day for our children” because the board “flipped back the other way.” Karp led a failed attempt last year to have the book “Gender Queer” removed from school library shelves and applauded the decision to repeal the policy protecting trans students.
The board now has a thin margin of more progressive members. Aho was one of the eight members who voted to repeal the policy known as ACAAA that contained guidance on pronoun use, bathroom access and other safety procedures for trans students. But the other three victors from Tuesday’s election replaced two members who supported the policy and flipped one of the seats whose representative voted to rescind it.
Though the board was split 8 to 8 in its vote, the policy was ultimately revoked because certain members’ votes carry more weight because of the size of the community they represent.
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