On Feb. 8, the Indiana House Committee on Education voted 6-4 to approve House Bill 1428, which would allow school districts to conduct partisan elections. The bill now goes to the full House.
In Indiana and 41 other states, state law requires that school board candidates run in nonpartisan elections. Even so, these elections over the last few years have increasingly reflected the conflicts playing out in state and federal politics. In 2022, elected officials and state and local parties endorsed candidates.
Bills like HB 1428 are not unique to Indiana. Legislators in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Montana have, since January, introduced measures to require partisan school board elections. On Jan. 24, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) proposed making school board elections partisan, saying, “the reality is people should be able to run for office how they want to run for office. They have a First Amendment right to do that. They can identify with a party or not.”
