State Board of Education maintains even political split

The State Board of Education will once again be an even split of Democrats and Republicans on the officially non-partisan body.

Three Democrats and one Republican were elected to fill the four seats up for election. All four incumbents decided against running for re-election.

• Democrat Kristin Christensen won the District 1 race, mainly representing the city of Lincoln.
• Democrat Maggie Douglas will take over the District 2 seat that covers several southeastern counties, including Sarpy, Cass and Otoe.
• Republican Lisa Schonhoff will represent District 3, which is made up of several eastern counties, including Burt, Madison and a portion of Douglas county.
• Democrat Liz Renner won the District 4 seat, representing Eastern Douglas County. The seat is currently empty after former board member Jacquelyn Morrison resigned.

The new members will join one Democrat and three Republicans on the board.

Current board member Deborah Neary, who was the sole Democrat not up for election this year, said she’s looking forward to working with the new members.

“Every time we bring on new voices or the board changes, I've really enjoyed those changes because we have more people that are not really thinking exactly alike, and that requires more discussion and more thought,” she said.

Neary said the board works well on issues like teacher retention and student literacy, which many of the newly elected members shared as campaign priorities.

Board member Elizabeth Tegtmeier, who is a Republican, had similar thoughts. She said she’s looking forward to the new perspectives.

“I am pleased that all our new board members are aware of the issues facing education in Nebraska,” Tegtmeier said in an email. “Despite our different political perspectives, we can unite to continue working to address the teacher shortage and early literacy. I look forward to hearing what each person’s thoughts are and what their constituents are saying.”