After uncovering District 5 School Board Candidate Marie Locklin’s party affiliation history, which revealed she spent nearly 20 years as a registered Democrat, it was no surprise to learn she’s been endorsed by VoteBlue.org and the AFL-CIO, a liberal federation of unions which consistently backs the Democratic Party.
The Blue Voter Guide not only endorsed Locklin but also Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate David Jolly and Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Angie Nixon. Angie Nixon
BLUEVOTERGUIDE.ORG Marie Locklin
Party affiliation does not appear on the ballot for non-partisan races like school board. That’s why many Santa Rosa voters were surprised to learn that despite living in a county where the supermajority of voters are registered Republicans, Democrat, Elizabeth Hewey was elected to be our District 2 School Board Member.
Locklin, who began her teaching career in Venezuela, registered as a Democrat in the late 1990s and stayed a member of the Democratic Party until 2016, per Santa Rosa County Supervisor of Elections records.
Additionally, Locklin served as an officer for the local teacher’s union, so the endorsement from the AFL-CIO wasn’t a big shock either.
What is surprising, or disappointing, is how Locklin supporters are spreading false information about her opposition.
For example, one of Locklin’s supporters stated she “unfriended” Pensacola Businessman David Bear after he made a campaign donation to Locklin’s opponent, Jill Broxson-Teston, asserting Bear was a Democrat. However, records show Bear has been a registered Republican for around 26 years, a fact he confirmed to South Santa Rosa News.
Furthermore, Save Santa Rosa is a local Facebook page run by longtime activist Kendall Creighton, who moved to Gulf Breeze. Kendall worked in Democrat Al Gore’s Office of Environmental Policy and on his failed 2000 Presidential Campaign. Therefore, again it was no surprise that the “Save Santa Rosa” page has been making posts against Locklin’s opponent.
The runoff for the District 5 School Board race takes place Tuesday. As of this morning, there are 92,453 (~64%) registered Republicans in Santa Rosa County and 21,114 (~14%) Democrats. per the Supervisor of Elections website.
