Bob Geary is criticizing the Wake County Republican Party for showing partisanship in the school board elections.

"The Wake County Republican Party is making no bones about it," Geary writes in a blog post today for the liberal Independent weekly. "As far as they're concerned, it's great if the non-partisan school board elections are partisan. To that end, they've rolled out their 'A' team of GOP candidates, capped off by the announcement today that Donna Williams, founding leader of the Northern Wake Republican Club, will run in District 6."

It's worth noting that there will be Democrats running in all five school board races who will be backed by the Wake County Democratic Party's "coordinated campaign."

Wake County school board candidate George Morgan has given an indication of just how much of a long shot it would be for him to win the District 6 seat.

In a campaign report filed Monday, Morgan said he intended to raise less than $1,000. In contrast, Christine Kushner has reported raising at least $27,271.24.

You don't have to be the biggest spender to win a school board race. But no one, at least in the past 12 years, has won a contested school board race with that little money.

There's no official word yet on whether a Republican will challenge Morgan and Kushner, both Democrats, for the seat. The filing period ends at noon on Friday.

The Wake County Democratic Party will emulate the Republicans this year in choosing sides in non-partisan races where there is more than one Democrat running for office.

Historically, the county Democrats have endorsed all party members who are running, even when they're competing against one other. Unlike partisan races, there's no primary in races like Wake County school board to whittle things down to one person per party.

But based on the significance of this year's contests, Wake Democratic Party Chairman Mack Paul said they will narrow the official endorsement to one candidate in each contest.

Would you compare Wake County school board candidate Christine Kushner with 1970s teen heartthrob Shaun Cassidy?

That's the comparison that Ilina Ewen made earlier this month in her dirt & nose blog to explain how excited she was about Kushner's candidacy in District 6. Ewen, who describes herself a "political left leaning mom of 2 boys," hosted a meet and greet for Kushner earlier this month.

"I....wobbled like a teen girl meeting Shaun Cassidy when I stuck out my hand and introduced myself to her at a school board meeting," Ewen writes. "Luckily we had a mutual friend sitting between us so I didn’t appear as starstruck as I felt. I met her on a Tuesday and my heart stood still."

Wake County school board members Keith Sutton, Kevin Hill and challenger Susan Evans were among the first to file today for office.

None of the three names were surprises as they had announced their plans to run ahead of time.  Hill is running for re-election District 3. Sutton is aiming to win the District 4 seat he was appointed to in 2009. Evans is running in District 8.

The filing period for school board candidates runs until noon on Aug. 12.

UPDATE

Click here for Morgan's application from 2009.

Christine Kushner filed today to run for the District 6 seat.

School board chairman Ron Margiotta filed today for re-election in District 8.

Cynthia Matson filed today for District 5, becoming the eighth and last school board candidate of the day.

Christine Kushner has already eclipsed the $25,000 fundraising mark for her Wake County school board campaign.

According to a new report filed today, Kushner has raised $27,271.24 in her bid to win the open District 6 seat. It gives Kushner a formidable campaign war chest edge in a race where no other person has announced yet.

The biggest donors in the new round of reporting are Ann Campbell and John Campbell, who both gave her $4,000. The couple have now given a total of $24,000 to Kushner and school board members Kevin Hill and Keith Sutton.

Bob Geary is heartened by the announcement today that Susan Evans will contest Ron Margiotta for the District 8 seat on the Wake County school board.

In a blog post today for the liberal Independent weekly, Geary writes that "Evans' announcement fills a hole for Wake County residents who think the Republican school board majority, led by Margiotta, has harmed rather than helped a very school system since four GOP-backed candidates swept into office following the 2009 elections."

"Margiotta was and continues to be an outspoken proponent of neighborhood schools — for the middle-class neighborhoods of Apex and western Wake County especially," Geary writes. "The fact that poor neighborhoods in East Raleigh and eastern Wake County would be left holding the bag with their "neighborhood schools" has not seemed to concern Margiotta all that much."

Supporters of the old diversity policy are giving plenty of cash to Wake County school board candidate Christine Kushner.

Kushner's latest campaign report filed this week shows she's raised $12,061.24 so far in her bid to win the District 6 seat. Many of the donors should be familiar as they've spoken out at school board meetings and other forums against the change in student assignment.

Donors include former school board member Beverley Clark, former school board candidate Lois Nixon, Wake County PTA Council President Diane Dulaney, Amy Womble, Adrienne Lumpkin, Brenda Berg, Swain Wood, Anne Cooper and Colethia Evans.

It looks like we now have the person who will emerge as the standard bearer in District 6 for supporters of the old diversity policy.

Christine Kushner, a longtime school volunteer, magnet parent and member of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, announced today that she would seek the District 6 seat on the Wake County school board.

Her press release hits on the same themes echoed by other critics of the board majority. She talks about the need to make data-driven decisions and avoiding creating low-performing schools.

Don't think that today's court hearing is strictly about whether the Wake County school board majority violated the state's Open Public Meetings Law.

The lawsuit is an all-encompassing attack on the new majority's actions over the past few months. It's readily apparent in the affidavit filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by Christine Kushner, a magnet parent who had applied for the school board opening now filled by Carolyn Morrison.

In her affidavit, Kushner attacks the majority for just about everything that has occurred since December. She cites a variety of board votes, including the community schools directive, the student reassignment changes, abandoning Forest Ridge High, the ending of Wacky Wednesdays, the placement of Supt. Del Burns on administrative leave and the layoffs of the Project Enlightenment employees.

UPDATE

FIXED LINK FOR KUSHNER'S AFFIDAVIT