Lake County Gazette

A group of conservative challengers lost in the Barrington 220 school board race, which saw only a 17% voter turnout. 

Katey Baldassano, one of the challengers, said the race decided the majority on the school board. Baldassano ran on a slate with Leonard Munson and Matt Sheriff, and they were hoping to tip the scales toward a conservative majority on the board. 

“It was pretty consistently a 4-3 split on pretty much every issue," Baldassano told Lake County Gazette. "But now it will be 5-2. So much more one way. If two of the people in my slate or a different challenger that was not on my seat had won, then there could have been a shift in the majority the other way.”

Baldassano said she thinks they "had a super strong core team and a super strong group of supporters."

"It's hard to imagine a group of candidates that did more to meet people and get our message out there than we did," Baldassano said. "It would be really hard to imagine that. I guess at the end of the day, just the voter turnout was pretty abysmal across the state. And I guess based on the voters, the people who voted sent a message for what they want for our community and it wasn't what we were pitching, even though we do think that more represent the community as a whole. But if the people don't vote, then they can't expect change. They are going to expect more of the same. Or things to get worse and that they're going to get what they asked for.” 

Baldassano's slate is grateful to their supporters, and they hope "that people will keep speaking out for what they especially want for their own kids." 

"Because at the end of the day, the parents are the most important thing in raising their kids," Baldassano said. "And if we aren't happy, then we need to advocate for what's best for our kids because they're the ones that are the end user of the system and they deserve a really great education. I hope that people keep fighting for that.”

The 1776 Project PAC supported the group while the incumbents were likely beneficiaries of the $500,000 in campaign cash Gov. J.B. Pritzker pumped into school board races this cycle in support of leftist candidates.

The election sparked new, contentious discussions in District 220 about COVID-19 mitigations and Barrington High School's decision to stock the controversial memoir "Gender Queer," which includes scenes of animated pornography. 1776 Project PAC, which opposes critical race theory and anti-racism, along with the national group Moms for Liberty supported the Baldassano, Munson and Sheriff slate.

The Barrington Hills Observer endorsed the challengers as well.