http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2010/03/03/thomas_ratliff_upset_state_boa.html?cxntfid=blogs_postcards
By Kate Alexander | Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 01:35 AM
Thomas Ratliff upset State Board of Education member Don McLeroy in a Republican primary nail-biter.
McLeroy, a dentist from Bryan, lost by about 800 votes. No Democrat has filed for the District 9 race so Ratliff will take the seat next year.
Appointed board chairman in 2007, McLeroy has been the poster-child for the board’s conservative bloc with his affable tone but strident ideology. Last year, his nomination as chairman was blocked by Democrats in the Texas Senate.
His defeat is substantial blow to the conservatives, who have largely driven the recent rewrites of curriculum standards. Ratliff, son of former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff, has made it clear that he will be a more moderate vote on the closely divided 15-member board.
Dallas Republican Geraldine Miller, a member of the board’s moderate faction, lost to teacher George Clayton in that primary, the Associated Press announced around 12:30 p.m. There is no Democrat contending for this seat, either.
Miller has been a fixture on the board since 1984 and the surge by Clayton was not expected.
On his Web site, the North Dallas High School English teacher says he is a “simple educator whose only reason for running for the state board is to improve education in Texas for our students, teachers and you, the public.”
“As an educator, I see the question of curriculum and textbook content as a simple task; both should be agenda free,” he said.
The Republican race to succeed Cynthia Dunbar is headed to a runoff between Marsha Farney and Brian Russell.
Earlier in the evening, incumbent Republicans Ken Mercer and Bob Craig won their primaries. Rebecca Bell-Metereau will face educator Judy Jennings, a Democrat, in November while Craig is unopposed in the general.
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