https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2010-11-05/same-board-of-miseducation/
As in most races, the GOP candidates in District 5 (which includes southern Travis County) and District 10 (including northern Travis) hammered the Dems. Incumbent Ken Mercer – a vocal member of the religious right bloc that has made the SBOE a national laughingstock – proved immovable, winning 59% in the largely Hill Country District 5 over Texas State English professor Rebecca Bell-Metereau. In District 10, Georgetown educator Marsha Farney – who pumped nearly half a million dollars of her own money into the race – took 56% over Austin's Judy Jennings, also an education professional.
"This was fairly predictable for Mercer to do well given how he did against Tim Tuggey [a moderate Republican primary challenger]," Bell-Metereau said at the Driskill Hotel. "We just have to figure out what are we going to do for 2012, because all the seats will be up [after redistricting]. We can't let education in Texas flounder. We have an emergency situation in Texas."
Whether Farney offers hope for the reasonable segment of society remains to be seen. She campaigned as a "common sense conservative" and pledged to "put education first, not politics," but she drew doubt over her sincerity with ideological cannon fire, labeling Jennings a "Wisconsin liberal" and blasting the other party as "America-bashing Democrats" on the trail.
Asked if Farney could be better than her awful one-term predecessor Cynthia Dunbar, Jennings said: "I always have hope. ... I think it will be interesting to see what decisions Marsha Farney makes, whether she lives up to the independence she's tried to indicate that she has."
District 5 | Travis County | Total | ||
Ken Mercer (R)* | 39,907 | 40% | 262,419 | 59% |
Rebecca Bell-Metereau (D) | 53,452 | 54% | 160,032 | 36% |
Mark Loewe (L) | 5,559 | 6% | 20,030 | 5% |
District 10 | ||||
Marsha Farney (R) | 49,081 | 37% | 255,671 | 56% |
Judy Jennings (D) | 77,347 | 58% | 183,214 | 40% |
Jessica Dreesen (L) | 6,524 | 5% | 18,826 | 4% |
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