Mary Lou Bruner, a State Board of Education candidate from East Texas who has drawn attention for inflammatory comments about President Barack Obama, is headed to a runoff election in May.
Bruner, who received 48 percent of vote, will run against fellow Republican Keven Ellis, who received 31 percent of the votes. The winner will face Democrat Amanda M. Rudolph to replace Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, for the District 9 seat which stretches from Anderson and Shelby counties north to Fannin and Bowie counties.
The board is tasked with setting policies and standards, including adopting textbooks and creating curriculum standards, for the state’s 5 million public school students, and overseeing the Texas Permanent School Fund.
Bruner, a former teacher who lives near Mineola, has recently gained media attention for some provocative Facebook posts. According to the Texas Freedom Network, one post said, "Do you realize that all the terrorist mass-murderers have described themselves as Democrats or liberals?" Another said that Obama had a "soft spot for homosexuals" because he was a male prostitute in his 20s.
After the posts were removed, Bruner told the conservative news site Breitbart Texas that she didn't intend to apologize for her "opinions because I still believe my statements were accurate."
According to her website, Bruner stands by her conservative values, including the belief that evolution should be taught as a theory and that health classes should avoid teaching about sexuality issues. She also said that although the state board directs what teachers should teach, teachers should be allowed to decide how to teach the curriculum.
Ellis, a chiropractor who serves as the Lufkin school board president, believes that teachers shouldn't be forced to adapt instruction to state standardized tests and that the federal government should butt out of the operations of local school districts. His high-profile endorsements include former state education commissioner Mike Moses and outgoing chairman of the Texas House education committee Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen.
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