In this municipal election cycle, a group of candidates have been put up to execute the agenda of their out of community donors who have injected tens of thousands of dollars into the race. That slate of candidates is under the umbrella of support from “Barrington Action PAC.” While their messaging is crafted to make you think they stand for sensible ideals, they are part of a larger movement which seeks to impose an extreme political agenda.
Across the country, there has been a coordinated effort to get far right candidates into office in order to ban books, undermine equality, oppose women’s rights and inject religious based doctrine into school curriculums. In Illinois, the effort is led by “Awake Illinois” which claims public schools are converting children into “sexualized, illiterate revolutionaries.” The Barrington portion of the effort comprises a slate of candidates for Barrington School Board D220 and another for the Barrington Area Library Board.
With the outside funding used to hire campaign operatives, the slate candidates have slick messaging which paints pictures of moderation. On their website, the Barrington PAC claims to be a “non-partisan organization advancing change in our neighborhoods through local election initiatives.” They consistently offer statements and slogans designed to mislead voters. The group claims raising test scores is a priority of theirs. Barrington’s test scores are already twice the state average. Another vague policy position is to “cut wasteful spending” and serve as good stewards of tax dollars. But they offer no specifics regarding alleged wasteful spending or say what they wish to cut.
Emblazoned on their website is the statement, “RESTORE OUR DESTINATION COMMUNITY.” One their slate candidates, Leonard Munson, stated that “education is not political” then went on to assert, “We’ve got to get back to Christian values.” His statement speaks volumes about what they are actually about and that is change the curriculum to impose religious teachings.
The outside funding going to the PAC further tells the story about their objectives. Failed Gubernatorial candidate Gary Rabin furnished a check for $5000. Rabine opposed covid-19 vaccines claiming its an experiment, opposes banning assault weapons and supports taking away a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. The PAC’s filing with the Illinois State Board of Elections shows a long list of donors who also give money to PAC’s and candidates who oppose choice. Another of their donors is an active member of “Moms For Liberty” which is a group whose mission is to censor books in libraries, control school curriculums and is responsible for numerous episodes where school board meetings where disrupted with anger and outbursts by people who want to censor books.
As of this writing, the PAC are close to having had raised 40K.
The slate candidates running for school board are Katey Baldassano, Leonard Munson and Matt Sheriff. Those running for library board are Kristin Cunningham, Chase Heidner and Kelly Dittmann. Margot Dallstream is the candidate they put up for Village Trustee.
The United State of America is a nation based on laws, not religion as it in places such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. We are also a melting pot of people and ideas. We would fail as a democracy and a modern nation if we were to abandon the separation of church and state in favor of a religion dictating what books are available and what is taught in schools. The Barrington PAC group of candidates reject this ideal. The same holds true for the deep pocketed donors who are trying to fool you in this election cycle. You can reject their extreme ideology by voting no to their candidates this April 4th.
Sources:
https://www.wbez.org/stories/conservative-groups-back-candidates-as-school-board-races-become-ideological-battlegrounds/e0eb12f3-734a-437c-9591-c3db4146e796
https://www.elections.il.gov