Loyd
Just more than $75,560 has poured into the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. School Board races as six candidates vie for three seats in the upcoming election, according to new campaign finance filings.
However, three candidates have nearly quadruple the cash on hand as their opponents as they head into the final sprint, the filings show.
Whitney Loyd, Leigh Britt and Nicole Wheeldon reported raising a collective $45,943 for their campaigns and had a combined $16,500 in cash on hand as of Oct. 11 — 25 days before Election Day.
Their opponents in the upcoming election — David Theile, Samantha Ison and Tom Glick — reported raising a collective $15,922 and had a combined $4,290 in cash on hand as of Oct. 11.
Loyd and Theile are running for BCSC School Board District 3, Britt and Glick are running for District 5 and Wheeldon, the current BCSC School Board president, and Ison are running for District 7.
Additionally, Your Community Partnership, a local political action committee that says it is seeking “school reform,” reported raising $13,694 and had $7,899 in cash on hand.
The PAC organized an event in Columbus for Theile, Ison and Glick on Friday that was advertised as featuring self-described Christian nationalist and GOP nominee for lieutenant governor Micah Beckwith and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita as speakers.
Beckwith, who has said God told him that He sent rioters to bludgeon and assault police officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was described by the Indianapolis Star as being instrumental’ in passing a controversial book relocation policy at the Hamilton East Public Library.
The Indianapolis Star reported that the shelves of the Teen Zone were gutted as librarians and staff conducted a review of thousands of books that was expected to cost the library system serving Fishers and Noblesville around $300,000.
Christian nationalism is an ideology that maintains that the United States was established by Christians for Christians. It aims to enact laws that align with its followers’ interpretations of Christianity and the influence of religion in political and social matters.
Your Community Partnership, the PAC that is supporting Theile, Ison and Glick, also received contributions from Donald Moss, who recently agreed to plead guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Moss made two contributions to the PAC totaling $480.
Megan Johnson, who is listed as the PAC’s treasurer, did not respond to a request for comment on Moss’ contributions by press time.
Loyd, Britt and Wheeldon have received support from the Indiana PAC for Education, which is the political action division of the Indiana State Teachers Association, as well contributions from several current and former local leaders.
Mark Elwood of Elwood Staffing Services Inc. has contributed to all three candidates’ campaigns, while Community Education Coalition President and CEO Kathy Oren, former BCSC Superintendent Jim Roberts, former BCSC School Board member Jeff Caldwell and former Turning Point Domestic Violence President Lisa Shafran have contributed to Loyd’s campaign.
