Barrett considering dropping out of Frederick County school board race

Jul. 31—Frederick County Board of Education member Liz Barrett, who finished seventh in the crowded primary, said she was considering dropping out of the race before the general election.

Eight of sixteen candidates advanced through the primaries. Barrett received 12,173 votes, according to unofficial results — far fewer than the other incumbent in the race, Karen Yoho, who finished first with 19,707 votes.

Rae Gallagher, Dean Rose and Ysela Bravo, who — like Yoho — are "apple ballot" candidates endorsed by the unions representing Frederick County Public Schools employees, rounded out the top four.

Nancy Allen, Cindy Rose and Olivia Angolia of the conservative Education not Indoctrination slate finished fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively.

Frederick County election officials are scheduled to certify the results on Monday.

Voters will elect four people to the school board in November.

In a Facebook post Saturday, Barrett wrote that a seventh-place finish in the primary makes the general seem like a "challenge." She told her supporters that she was "interested in your thoughts and perspective on the general election."

"I have some decisions to make," the post read. "Our campaign certainly can't compete with the apple ballot funds and resources. Likewise, I'm not interested in making any moves that would help the three ENI slate candidates advance because their platforms and expressed worldviews are exclusionary, objectionable, and don't reflect the values of Frederick County."

Twice in the past five election cycles, the top four finishers in the primary ended up being the four elected in the general. In 2012 and 2016, candidates who finished fourth in the primary ended up being one of three people elected in the general.

In 2020, David Bass secured one of three board seats after finishing fifth in the general.

The Education Not Indoctrination slate originally included Mark Joannides in addition to Allen, Angolia and Rose, but he finished tenth in the primary and will not advance to the general election. The group was seeking to secure a majority on the seven-member school board and has decried the way FCPS teaches about race, gender and sexuality, among other things.

In 2016, school board candidate Lois Jarman dropped out of the race shortly after the primary. She said she did so to avoid splitting votes among other Democrat-backed candidates and prevent Rose — who was then running her second school board campaign — from being elected.

Barrett wrote in a text message Sunday that "ideally, Frederick County voters could focus on who they are voting for, rather than who they are voting against."

"Politics is gross, and a nonpartisan Board of Education race shouldn't (and doesn't have to) come down to to this sort of calculus," Barrett wrote in her Facebook post. "Ideas and thoughts welcome. Let's do this decision making together and transparently."

Barrett wrote in a text message that she would make her decision "soon."

Follow Jillian Atelsek on Twitter: @jillian_atelsek