From School Board to the White House, Gwinnett County鈥檚 Vote Falls Under National Microscope
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Updated November 9
After almost a week of counting absentee and provisional ballots, Mary Kay Murphy, longtime incumbent board member for the Gwinnett County Public Schools, officially defeated challenger Tanisha Banks, a special education teacher at one of the district’s alternative schools.
2020鈥檚 KEY EDUCATION VOTES:聽See our full coverage of聽the 46 races that could reshape America鈥檚 schools聽following Election聽Day 鈥 and get the latest updates on state policies and students鈥 challenges during the pandemic by signing up for聽The 74 Newsletter.
Georgia鈥檚 Gwinnett County not only held a closely-watched school board race this election, it鈥檚 also under the national microscope with a razor-close presidential election forcing a recount and more than 3,500 absentee ballots yet to be tallied.
To Democrats running for a seat on the county鈥檚 five-member school board, however, those uncertainties could change the outcome of one of the races and flip the makeup from one nonwhite member to four.
鈥淕winnett County is tracking nationally. The absentee ballots are predominantly Democratic,鈥 said Tarece Johnson, a Black board member-elect who will fill the seat of 47-year member Louise Radloff, who she defeated in the June primary. Johnson ran unopposed.
By Wednesday morning, with all precincts reporting, incumbent Mary Kay Murphy led challenger Tanisha Banks, a Black special education teacher at one of the district鈥檚 alternative schools, with just 50.81 percent of the vote.
Murphy, who has been on the board since 1997, has assumed victory, saying that in spite of a divisive campaign that saw conservatives label challengers as radicals, she was 鈥渃onfident that we will find the best in each board member and in our ability to work together.鈥
“Campaigning is one thing,鈥 she said. 鈥淕overning is another.鈥
Banks, however, posted on her Facebook page that due to the outstanding votes, she鈥檚 not conceding defeat.
鈥淲aiting on certification of all votes,鈥 she wrote. 鈥淵ou all know I am all about facts, figures and data. When you talk the talk, you must walk the walk!鈥
The called the race for Murphy and Watkins Wednesday, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the county was having trouble counting absentee ballots.
Johnson said she was hoping the results would tip in Banks鈥檚 favor, noting that her perspective as a teacher would be helpful in a district that is nationally acclaimed but has experienced significant demographic shifts.
鈥淪he knows the players, more than anyone,鈥 she said.
In the third race, Karen Watkins, a multiracial mother of two students in Gwinnett schools, defeated incumbent Carole Boyce with almost 59 percent of the vote. Boyce has served since 2005 in the district known for stable leadership.
For now, Johnson and Watkins will join Everton Blair, a graduate of Gwinnett schools elected in 2018 as the board鈥檚 first Black member.
Since 2010, the district has twice won the Broad Prize for Urban Education, presented to districts that have high overall performance while also narrowing racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps.
Though the district still performs above state averages on state tests, the Democratic candidates were among those calling for greater attention to lingering racial disparities in achievement and discipline.
Whether the board has three Black members or four, the dynamic between them and longtime Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks, who has led the district for 24 years, will likely change.
Earlier this year, Wilbanks鈥檚 contract was renewed for two more years, but he has said that staff members in the district are anxious about changes that could be coming. Already, , the superintendent鈥檚 longtime chief of staff and a former spokesperson for the district, announced her retirement.
Wilbanks said recently that he tries to stay out of board politics as much as he can, but that he hopes the new and current members will 鈥渃ontinue to be a board that people respect.鈥
2020鈥檚 KEY EDUCATION VOTES:聽See our full coverage of聽the 46 races that could reshape America鈥檚 schools聽following Election聽Day 鈥 and get the latest updates on state policies and students鈥 challenges during the pandemic by signing up for聽The 74 Newsletter.
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