More N.C. school boards become officially partisan

When House Republicans earlier this month voted to make Transylvania County’s Board of Education elections partisan, they highlighted a growing trend.

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Last year, a handful of bills sought to make school board elections partisan. Some were local. Others, like House Bill 324, aimed to make partisanship statewide. Rep. George Cleveland, a Jacksonville Republican and the sponsor of that bill, explained it by saying, “there are material differences in the philosophy of education between individuals and parties. Partisan elections give the voter a much better feel for who he is voting for and what the individual’s philosophy may be.”

Other Republicans, like Sen. Ronald Rabin, a Harnett County Republican, considered it election transparency. “My view of transparency is that the voter has all the information possible,” Rabin said.

Democrats argue the opposite. They say the state doesn’t need partisan elections in traditionally nonpartisan offices.

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