We know of at least one challenger who plans to take on Kevin Hill in this fall's Wake County school board elections.

Heather Losurdo announced Thursday that she would run against Hill for the District 3 seat that, pending redistricting, currently consists of much of Northeast Raleigh and the Wakefield area. Losurdo will step down as chairwoman of the Northern Wake Republican Club to run against Hill, a Democrat.

Losurdo's announcement of her candidacy on Thursday coincided with that night's Northern Wake Republican Club meeting that was attended by GOP school board members Chris Malone, Ron Margiotta, Deborah Prickett and John Tedesco.

Chris Malone, Lois Nixon and Cathy Truitt have filed their 2009 final Wake County school board campaign reports.

In Malone's final report, he reported raising $18,186 and spending $18,056.12 in his successful bid for the District 1 seat. He reported contributions from Take Wake Schools Back, the N.C. Indian-American Political Action Committee and the Northern Wake Republican Club.

Wake County school board candidates Deborah Prickett and Horace Tart are the first ones to file their year-end campaign finance reports.

Tart's final report shows he spent $12,306.98 during his unsuccessful bid for a second term on the board. Toward the end of the campaign, he got $150 from school board member Anne McLaurin and $150 from former Raleigh Mayor Smedes York.

The report shows Tart paid $700 to the Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association's political action committee to be his poll workers on Election Day.

Compared to the Wake Schools Community Alliance, campaign finance reports show that Take Wake Schools Back wasn't nearly as big a monetary player.

In its runoff election report, Take Wake Schools Back said it had raised $2,083.25 as of Oct. 19. In contrast, the WSCA had raised $36,919.44.

School board candidate John Tedesco has overtaken Cathy Truitt for the fundraising lead in District 2.

In this campaign report received today, Tedesco reported having raised $20,065.96 as of Oct. 19. Through that same time period, Truitt had reported raising $19,425.31.

Tedesco also has a lot more money than Truitt available for spending in the final week. He reported having spent $12,936.07 and having $6,100.40 on hand.

Take Wake Schools Back is speaking out on Tuesday's school board election results and next month's District 2 runoff.

In today's press release, the PAC says it still stands behind John Tedesco and accuses Cathy Truitt of equivocating on the issues. While the Wake Schools Community Alliance has been more bipartisan, Take Wake Schools Back has a stronger tie with the Wake County Republican Party.

Here's the press release:

Pretty much everyone can agree that this year's school board elections offer critics one of their best chances in recent memory to make major gains.

But as noted in today's article, there's dispute over just where critics are coming from. Is it, as claimed by Wake Democratic Party Chairman Jack Nichols, a campaign being orchestrated by the Republicans to seize control of the school board?

"Other than the Wake Republican Party, are there other groups who have endorsed those candidates?" Nichols said. "No one."

The official death notice of the Children's PAC has been sent.

As was previously blogged about, the Children's PAC is shutting down and joining forces with the Wake Schools Community Alliance. This includes endorsing the same slate of candidates as the WSCA - Chris Malone in District 1, John Tedesco in District 2, Deborah Prickett in District 7 and Debra Goldman in District 9.

Now the same slate of candidates is being backed by the Children's PAC, the WSCA, Take Wake Schools Back and the Wake County Republican Party.

The Wake Schools Community Alliance apparently has a lot of money that can be spent in the final month before the school board election.

According to the WSCA's latest report, the group has raised $18,741 and still had $14,046 on hand as of Sept. 1.

Among the WSCA's latest contributors are Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley, Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly, Holly Springs Town Councilman Vincent DeBenedetto and Morrisville Town Councilman Tom Murry.

Take Wake Schools Back and Wake Schools Community Alliance are on the same page when it comes to endorsements for school board candidates.

Both groups are backing Chris Malone in District 1, John Tedesco in District 2, Deborah Prickett in District 7 and Debra Goldman in District 9. Take Wake Schools Back announced its endorsements today while WSCA made them before the filing period ended last month.

The one crack in the unified opposition will likely be closed up next week when the leadership of the Wake County Republican Party revises its endorsements.