Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison made robocalls asking people to vote for Heather Losurdo in the Wake County school board runoff election.

In the Monday robocall, Harrison touted Losurdo's support of "the new bi-partisan student assignment plan." He said that incumbent Kevin Hill "wants to go back to the forced busing policy parents hated so much."

Harrison, who like Losurdo is a Republican, made a pitch to people who aren't parents of current students by noting that "72 percent of your county property taxes go to the schools." He said that "Heather will be a good steward of your tax dollars."

Pat McCrory, the former Charlotte mayor and likely Republican gubernatorial candidate next year, has endorsed Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo.

In a robocall today McCrory is making to voters today, he asks voters to "reject untrue, negative personal attacks, and vote on the serious issues." He also says that Losurdo "is the only candidate committed to this non-partisan (student assignment) plan moving schools forward."

Here's the text of the robocall:

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE TO MCCRORY'S ROBOCALL

Wake County school board member Kevin Hill is promoting the endorsement he's received from former longtime board member Wray Stephens.

In a letter posted on Hill's website today, Stephens writes that District 3  voters should "elect a person whom you respect, whom you are willing to have stand in your place at the Board of Education table, and whom you believe will represent you in how he or she governs, not by partisan ideology or by personal bias, but by being a part of a board whose collective decisions must reflect the very best efforts to achieve the purpose of governance, the common good."
 
"I believe that Kevin Hill is most able to serve all of the citizens of Wake County in a manner that will make us all very proud of our local board of education," writes Stephens, who like Hill is a registered Democrat.

Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo is promoting her runoff endorsement from the Wake Schools Community Alliance in this new campaign mailer.

In the mailer, Losurdo quotes from the WSCA endorsement which had blamed incumbent Kevin Hill for "failing graduation rates," "600 teachers fired," "26,000 students reassigned," "'Wacky Wednesday' PLTs" and "mandatory year-round schedules." The mailer quotes how WSCA said Losurdo "has consistently supported neighborhood schools, advocated for the use of EVAAS" and "called for civility and consensus-building on our School Board."

"Wake County's Leading Independent Education Reform Organization Supports Heather Losurdo," says the mailer. "So should you."

The mailer is interesting considering how Losurdo's supporters were dismissive of the WSCA before the runoff when the group endorsed Jennifer Mansfield.

Wake County school board member Kevin Hill is closing out the campaign with this mailer telling voters "we need you to finish the race."

In the mailer, Hill touts the endorsements he's received from The News & Observer, The Independent, The Triangle Tribune and The Carolinian. The mailer quotes from the endorsements he's received from the N&O's editorial board.

The mailer contains images of a young girl about to cross the finish line.

"Our Children, Our Schools, Our Economy, Our Community Need You to Stretch for the Finish Line!" according to the mailer.

Wake County school board member Kevin Hill is touting how both of his 2007 school board opponents are now endorsing him in this year's runoff election.

In a press release today, Hill's campaign announces that it has been endorsed by Martha LaVance and Alfreda Wilson. The release particularly focuses on the endorsement from Wilson, calling her the "2007 Republican candidate" and saying it shows how Hill has "continued to pick up bi-partisan support."

"Kevin is the BEST person suited to represent District 3 on the Wake County Board of Education," Wilson says in Hill's press release. "I have been very pleased with his representation thus far and I believe that he will continue to conduct himself accordingly. "

Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo says she's "thrilled" to receive the Wake Schools Community Alliance's endorsement in the runoff election.

In a statement Saturday, Losurdo called the WSCA endorsement "a major indication that Republicans, Democrats and independents are coming together" in the bid to oust incumbent Kevin Hill.

These upbeat words are a sharp contrast to the negative remarks traded backed and forth by supporters of Losurdo and the WSCA before Oct. 11. Both groups were saying some pretty harsh things about each other back when the WSCA was endorsing Jennifer Mansfield over Losurdo.

Organized labor is backing "labor-friendly" Wake County school board member Kevin Hill in the District 3 runoff election against Heather Losurdo.

The Triangle Labor Council AFL-CIO announced Friday that it was endorsing Hill, just like it had in the general election. Three of the group's five Democratic endorsed candidates won outright on Oct. 11 with Hill and George Morgan, whom the group supported over Christine Kushner, being the lone exceptions.

"Our endorsed candidates did very well in Wake County, but control of the Wake County School Board is still up for grabs," says this handout from the Triangle Labor Council AFL-CIO. "However, one of our candidates, Kevin Hill, in Wake County Schools District 3, fell 51 votes short of getting the 50% needed to avoid a run-off. Kevin Hill will be on the ballot in a special run-off election on Tuesday, Nov. 8. This labor-friendly candidate needs your support!"

The Wake Schools Community Alliance is now endorsing Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo in the District 3 runoff after having previously backed Jennifer Mansfield.

In a press release today, WSCA says Losurdo "has consistently supported neighborhood schools, advocated for the use of EVAAS and other objective data-driven measurements to meet our educational challenges head-on and called for civility and consensus-building on our School Board."

In contrast, WSCA rips into incumbent school board member Kevin Hill, citing his tenure as board chairman. They blame him for "falling graduation rates," "600 teachers fired, while protecting non-teaching administrators," "26,000 students reassigned," '"Wacky Wednesday' PLT’s were implemented, without regard to their impact on families" and "mandatory year round schedules forced on thousands of families."

It should come as no surprise that The Independent is endorsing Wake County school board member Kevin Hill in the runoff election, just as it did previously.

In this week's issue of the liberal weekly, the Indy writes that "voters in District 3 (North Raleigh) can finish the job of restoring responsible leadership to the Wake County Board of Education by re-electing Kevin Hill in the only school board runoff."

The Indy calls last week's election victories by Democrats "a stunning repudiation of Republican Party partisanship as applied to Wake's public schools after the 2009 elections." The weekly says Hill's election would create "a moderate 5-4 majority."

"Hill has pledged to work with Tata's plan and protect the diversity element, which Margiotta's majority was fixing to gut," the Indy writes. "By contrast, Hill's opponent in the runoff, Republican Heather Losurdo, is for the pure 'neighborhood schools' approach that Margiotta and the rest of the Republican slate advocated and which voters—turning out in historically huge numbers—rejected."