As coordinated elections across Colorado and the country saw decidedly blue waves, school board elections in the Pikes Peak Region could see their own splashes.
While the totals from the 2025 elections have yet to be finalized, they could potentially mark a shift in technically nonpartisan elections that have favored conservative-leaning candidates in recent years. Recent campaigns have received greater financial contributions and political endorsements for candidates running on key topics and stances.
In contrast to the 2021 and 2023 school board elections, which saw a large swing of conservative victories, this year’s elections saw some of its larger districts electing a variety of candidates, in many cases by razor-thin margins, and a larger number of candidates endorsed by the Colorado Education Association projected to win.
In a Tuesday night press release, the statewide teachers’ union announced that over 80% of their endorsed candidates were ahead in their respective races across Colorado at that time.
“This victory is a direct result of educators, parents, and community members coming together to ensure our public schools are led by people who believe in them,” CEA President and former Colorado Springs D-11 teacher Kevin Vick said in the statement. “I am proud of the work our members put in across the state and look forward to working with these newly elected leaders as they serve their districts.”
Among the El Paso County candidates backed by the CEA currently ahead are Holly Withers in D-49, Michelle Hubbard and William Dolphin in Widefield D-3 and LeAnn Bartlett and Charles Johnson in Colorado Springs D-11, who would succeed predominantly conservative school board members.
The only CEA-backed candidates to get swept in El Paso County were Jenna Hernandez Stites, Brandon Clark and Renee Ludlam, who lost to Susan Payne, Eddie Waldrep and Holly Tripp for three open seats in Academy D-20.
Eddie Waldrep, candidate for District 20 celebrates as early voting returns start coming in during the District 20 and District 11 School Board election watch party at Caddie’s at Valley Hi Golf Course in Colorado Springs on Election Day, Nov. 4. Michael G. Seamans, The Gazette
At the time of this writing, D-49 incumbent Jamilynn D’Avola is projected to lose her seat to challenger Holly Withers by only 16 votes. This result comes after her first campaign yielded her 18% more total votes over two candidates.
If elected, Withers would join incumbent board members Mike Heil and Marie LeVere-Wright who have consistently voted against D’Avola, returning incumbent Lori Thompson and Deb Schmidt over the past two years.
Despite the totals yet to be finalized, and Withers’ lead slipping from 2% of votes to 0.29%, D’Avola spoke on these results as what could be perceived as a concession during the board’s regular meeting Nov. 6.
“I want to thank everyone who had supported me and voted for me. You guys are awesome and thank you so much for all of that effort that you put into this,” she said. “It’s been an honor to serve the district and to work with this board.”
Withers told The Gazette that, while she’s not yet confident in her victory, Thursday night was the first night since the election she properly slept, following late nights of checking updates that saw her lead slip to various degrees.
“I am just as surprised as everyone else at how close I came,” she said.
The next release of results is expected Nov. 14, which will account for military and overseas voters and votes that went uncounted to cure a signature issue.
As to why this year’s elections have been so close, Withers suspected that voters are paying closer attention to what’s happening on their local school boards and looking for a change.
She said, while canvassing, that many voters she spoke with admitted to tuning into broadcasts of board meetings for entertainment, comparing them to television shows like “Jerry Springer.”
“And I said, ‘Well, do you think that that is how a school board should operate?’ And they said ‘No, actually’ and that they were kind of tired of it,” Withers said.
In other school districts, some races have been so close for one seat to flip. Initial results Tuesday night had Jeremiah Johnson, who received a public endorsement from U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, among the leading candidates for D-11’s three open seats.
Updated figures Thursday, however, reported that Charles Johnson had moved ahead of the other Johnson by 42 votes. The third CEA-backed candidate, Michael Carsten, trailed for the last board seat by 56 votes.
These results would come following the 2021 and 2023 elections, which saw one progressive-leaning candidate get elected to one of its seven seats.
In a social media post, Charles Johnson emphasized that the newest count was not the final count and provided instructions for voters to get their ballots cured.
“We are 42 votes ahead for the 3rd seat for the D-11 school board. Because of this we are now in the process of curing ballots,” the post read. “This is the process of making sure ballots are not thrown out because of small mistakes and ensures every ballot counts.”
School board candidate Charles Johnson watches as early results are presented at District 11 Watch Party at the Commonfork Bites & Brews in downtown Colorado Springs on Election Day, Nov. 4. Christian Murdock, The Gazette
After spending some time with her local voters, Withers said that the specific education topics that repeatedly came up were addressing special-education challenges and bullying throughout the district.
If ultimately elected, she said that she’ll likely face pushback from the portion of voters who didn’t vote for her.
“But, I think after a while, once everybody kind of settles down, when the sticker shock goes away, it’ll be back to basics,” she said. “School board meetings will be boring again.”