Two earthquakes ravage American nations, tsunamis, freakishly large snowstorms, still trouble in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran in turmoil and ruled by some sort of crazy, North Koreans still starve so the nation can make a nuclear sabre to rattle.
Good news?
Texas State Board of Education member Don McLeroy lost a primary election challenge to attorney Tom Ratliff, representing the area around Beaumont, Texas. The news is that McLeroy is out — notice that the Texas Tribune doesn’t name the winner until the seventh paragraph.
Another prominent, but much more reasonable Republican member of the SBOE also lost: Geraldine “Tincy” Miller, in Dallas. Miller was so expected to win that race that almost no one was watching, and little is in public about the winner of the race.
Election results from Tuesday’s primary election in Texas mean that the State Board of Education will change dramatically. It would be almost impossible for any of the changes to be bad ones. McLeroy led the anti-evolution force on the board. McLeroy was the ringleader to gut and racialize English standards earlier, and he’s been the point man in the attempt to gut and de-secularize social studies standards.
Board member Cynthia Dunbar, another “social conservative,” did not run for re-election.
In the governor’s race, anti-education, anti-science Gov. Rick Perry won big over the state’s popular Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Hutchison. Third place in that race went to the Teabagger candidate.
No Teabagger won any race in Texas.
It’s not that Texas has suddenly gained reason. The dissension on the SBOE, demonstrated by the Texas Senate’s rejection of McLeroy’s renomination to be chairman of the body, just got to be too much. Texans like their crazies to be sane enough to get things done, and not so noisily crazy as to attract attention to the state’s shared insanity.
Sunlight cast on the actions of the board, especially by groups like the Texas Freedom Network, informed Texans. And now the people of Texas have spoken.
More:
- “McLeroy, Miller upset in SBOE elections,” Austin American-Statesman
- “Social conservatives could lose grip on state board,” Houston Chronicle
- Previous posts featuring McLeroy at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub here, and here, and here, and here, and here.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
[…] Hope in Texas: McLeroy voted off of state school board « Millard … […]
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Thanks Ed,
This is just about the only bright spot in my day. Getting rid of both Mcleroy and Dunbar is a great first step.
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So anyone want to bet on whether Governor Hairpiece will try to circumvent that?
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Extremely happy about McLeroy (also happy that Craig beat Rives). Not happy about Miller. Her opponent, Clayton, is hard to read. Miller was good for standing up to the McLeroy wing of the Wingnut party.
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PZ Myers has headlined this on Pharyngula… good news, there is hope for us all.
Well done, MFB!
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