OHIO — Concerns over contentious school board races this election cycle are at the forefront of a number of minds across the country and here in Ohio.

What You Need To Know

• Organizations across the state have ramped up support for candidates


• Some, like Red Wine & Blue, have provided information on a number of candidates running in races across the state, including the ones they are watching closely 


• One candidate in Central Ohio facing numerous attacks had a swastika sprayed across one of his campaign signs

“I knew from the beginning there were gonna be people opposed," Zach Duffey, a Big Walnut School Board candidate in Central Ohio, said.

What he didn’t anticipate though were people asking “Are you crazy?” “Do you know what happened two years ago?”

Two years ago, meaning the protests surrounding Critical Race Theory and curriculum in classrooms being called into question among other things. Plus, that has nothing to do with the “Incessant attacks, I mean, the daily assault on my character.”

While Duffey said he’s managed to deal with that, he didn’t know how far it would go until he learned a swastika had been drawn on one of his campaign signs.

“The swastika on my banner was like the crescendo of a long line of attacks," Duffey said.

While he was angry and embarrassed at first, he said his feelings soon shifted.

“I was hurt for our community. I was confused. Thinking about what's going on in Israel against our Jewish allies. Was this an attack on me or is this a Nazi mindset coming after me? I didn't even know what to make of it. It was so out of character out of place," Duffey said.

While Duffey is just one candidate who has faced attacks, organizations like Red Wine & Blue have put extra emphasis on races this year. This is because founder Katie Paris said she is seeing a lot of races this time around mirror races during pandemic elections, which were centered around culture war issues like book bans, eliminating diversity and arming teachers — all things that helped fuel protests and heated school board meetings. 

As a result of what Paris calls politicization of school board races and a distraction away from the real issues, RWB has ramped up its online, text and in-person campaign efforts to inform voters about all candidates. This includes green and red checks by candidate names on their website, which RWB said voters should support or be leery of this time around. 

Duffey is one of those candidates on RWB’s site that did not get the organization's approval. Even so, Duffey explained he’s not focused on endorsements. Rather, he said he’s centered on academic excellence, fiscal responsibility, low taxes and growing the district’s trades program and his first win as a school board candidate.

“I'm very excited and I'm hopeful. I think we're winning. I think we have a healthy margin of victory. That's my prediction," Duffey said.

For Katie Paris, “I look forward to a day when these school board races can be a bit more boring. In the meantime, we have got to stand up against these culture warriors who are trying to push a political agenda on our kids because. Our kids, education, and our children are just too important to allow them to do it.”