Grassroots effort pays off as GOP-endorsed school board candidates win big in Delta County

By Angie Many & Shirley Bauer | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

We won! We won! At the Watch Party after the monthly Delta County Republican meeting, the mood was ‘Elation!’ as it was almost certain that GOP-endorsed candidates Adena Kreutz and Sheldon Kier had become newly-elected members of the local school board. 

Over 40 people were at the GOP meeting, which combined regular monthly business with waiting for election results with fingers crossed and silent prayers offered. Both Adena and Sheldon attended and thanked those present for their support while everyone watched the vote tallies with cautious optimism. Adena and Sheldon were each almost 1,000 votes ahead of opponents by the time the meeting and GOP Watch Party ended. (A total of about 10,000 people voted in the Delta County school board election and about 11,000 voted for/against Propositions LL and MM. About 45% of registered Delta County voters turned out, compared to 41.8% this year statewide.)

After the GOP activities, Adena and her husband, Dave, accompanied several attendees to Daveto’s Restaurant in Delta to continue the Watch Party. (Sheldon left early to view national results on his home TV, and probably to get some much deserved rest!)

Only a small group made that trip, but the mood there was definitely upbeat, even though results weren’t finalized. Colorado Representative Matt Soper and his wife, Sara, attended the celebration, as did several other Republicans. 

Local Republicans gather at Daveto’s Restaurant in Delta as early results show GOP-endorsed school board candidates Adena Kreutz and Sheldon Kier leading by wide margins. Among those celebrating were Rep. Matt Soper and his wife Sara, Delta County GOP chair Leslie Parker, and several campaign volunteers.

By a little before 9:00 pm, we had an update that Sheldon had 4,833 votes to Kristina Hines’s 4,103 votes in District 1. In District 5, Adena had 4,315 votes to Jennifer McGavin’s 3,531 and Autumn Wynn came in with 1,142 votes. By 9:09 pm, the Delta County Independent called the election for Sheldon Keir for District 1 and Adena Kreutz for District 5.   

Sheldon got 54.54% of the vote in his two-person race, and Adena got 48.59% in her three-person race. Her main opponent, incumbent Jennifer McGavin, of ‘Decolonize Delta County School District’ and ‘Hands Off Our Democracy Nazis’ fame, got 38.87% of the votes. (And in the school board work session two days later, McGavin harangued the board about the looming dangers for LGBTQ++ and “intersex” children because, of course, she would no longer be there.)

School board candidates Adena Kreutz and Sheldon Kier address supporters during the Delta County GOP meeting on election night.

How did these candidates win? All of us involved felt it took every one of us to make it happen.  Leslie Parker, Delta County GOP chair, commented, “It literally did take a village.”

The main thing was our candidates, who were great in character, integrity, and honesty and who had a passion to help our kids have a better future. They worked hard to get their message out to the public by going everywhere: to meet-and-greets, forums, churches, and more. They had large, very visible and often moveable signs in high-traffic areas. They ran positive campaigns. They did not stoop to negativity, and they were able to show measurable differences between themselves and their opponents. They each had a Facebook page and used other social media, especially local message boards. 

In addition, volunteers worked hard. They called as many registered Republicans as they could reach. (Unfortunately, voter roll telephone numbers are often out of date.) Since school board ballots don’t delineate candidates by political party, they made sure that people knew that Sheldon and Adena were endorsed by the Delta County GOP. 

And last, the candidates ran radio ads on conservative talk radio KNZZ, including ads made by State Representative Matt Soper, who represents the Delta area. This is a first for a Delta County school board election, but the candidates and supporters thought that even though these are unpaid positions, the race was important enough to justify spending the money. 

The two new conservative board members will join conservative Beth Suppes to form a majority of the board, and that will be good for Delta County students and parents. We expect great things from the new board, which will likely be seated within two weeks.  

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