Chad was a candidate for the school district this fall! We have been working hard for a few months to campaign for him. He spent 2 week nights and all day on Saturday going door-to-door trying to meet folks at all 6,500 homes in our precinct (Starting back in August!). He would take anyone available with him and we literally placed about 1000 signs, mostly in people's yards. We got involved because we didn't think the district was making wise choices for our children - and Chad became the voice for many district employees and parents who had been treated badly by the district. He has been on several news shows, radio shows and attended many board meetings since we got involved. Our entire neighborhood has been wonderful - they have really supported us and put in so many hours right along with us. This was a grass roots movement of normal folks who saw the need for a change.
Anyway - after working so hard throughout Draper, the political establishment started to get a little worried they might loose the race to a formerly little known parent. After a automated telephone poll of the citizens of Draper, they found they were behind. And then the race got really quite ugly. There were three anonymous robo calls accusing Chad of things. The next week, 10 anonymous signs showed up around Draper accusing him of not signing an ethics pledge (what ethics pledge????). Anyway, we frantically responded to the accusations and did damage control. Then the mailing campaign started. We had noticed that our state house representative was paying for and helping the incumbent, but when our state senator sent out an attack postcard through his PAC, we realized the stakes were high to the good ole' boys club around here. Our supporters were wonderful. Luckily most people know when outrageous accusations are made - they are usually not true.
It all came down to election night - and what a crazy night. We were so worried. The early voting results were posted "early", but it took a few hours to get the rest of the results all in. And the verdict - Chad Won!!!! And, every incumbent up for re-election lost, and there will be three new members on the board in January!!! We are so pleased to see the voters are ready for a change. We are also grateful that in America - at least at the local level, average people can make a difference. We were out-spent, and attacked viciously, but the people still got to make the choice!
Anyway - after working so hard throughout Draper, the political establishment started to get a little worried they might loose the race to a formerly little known parent. After a automated telephone poll of the citizens of Draper, they found they were behind. And then the race got really quite ugly. There were three anonymous robo calls accusing Chad of things. The next week, 10 anonymous signs showed up around Draper accusing him of not signing an ethics pledge (what ethics pledge????). Anyway, we frantically responded to the accusations and did damage control. Then the mailing campaign started. We had noticed that our state house representative was paying for and helping the incumbent, but when our state senator sent out an attack postcard through his PAC, we realized the stakes were high to the good ole' boys club around here. Our supporters were wonderful. Luckily most people know when outrageous accusations are made - they are usually not true. 
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