A candidate for superintendent of public instruction narrowly avoided being knocked off the ballot Tuesday in what she called a “racially motivated” attack against the validity of her campaign by one of her opponents.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission deadlocked 3-3 on whether to remove Shandowlyn Hendricks-Williams after one of her opponents, Deborah Kerr, filed a complaint stating Hendricks-Williams’ nomination papers should be invalidated. The vote was not along party lines, with Republican appointee Bob Spindell and two Democratic appointees, Ann Jacobs and Mark Thomsen, voting to keep her on the ballot.
Hendricks-Williams
The complaint, filed by Kerr, sought to block Hendricks-Williams from the ballot because she used “Dr.” ahead of her name on her nomination papers and because her address on the papers doesn’t match her address on her campaign registration statement.
“This frivolous challenge is a distraction and it won’t shift my focus from empowering Wisconsin students, parents and teachers,” Hendricks-Williams said in a statement Tuesday. “I earned every qualification I have and worked hard to earn my doctorate which I proudly display. … This attack on my qualification is a personal insult and as the only candidate of color in this race, I also find it to be racially motivated coming from a superintendent candidate who recently stated that we need more diversity in our classrooms and among our superintendents.”
The complaint was not meant as a slight against Hendricks-Williams personally, Kerr said.
Kerr
“This was not about her as a person, and not her fault personally. Regardless, details matter,” she said in a statement Tuesday. “After my campaign put in several hours ensuring that my papers were correct, as did the other candidates, I felt it was unjust to the other candidates in the race. We all made sure that we followed the rules.”
Another candidate, assistant state superintendent Sheila Briggs, tweeted her support for Hendricks-Williams’ candidacy Tuesday, saying Hendricks-Williams earned her title and shouldn’t be punished for using it.
Briggs
Hendricks-Williams argued that using the title was a “minor deviation from the statute” and commission staff never pointed out the error. She insisted the address on her campaign registration was a mailing address and the address on her nomination papers is her residential address, according to a memo commission staff wrote ahead of Tuesday’s hearing.
The staff recommended the commission reject the address challenge but block Hendricks-Williams from the ballot because she included her title on her papers’ header, which is specifically prohibited by state law.
The staff member who reviewed Hendricks-Williams papers' was not aware of that statute, commission deputy administrator Richard Rydecki said.
“It’s my belief that we should have caught this on review and we should have provided feedback to the candidate,” he said.
“It’s pretty clear that titles aren’t allowed,” said commissioner Dean Knudson, a Republican appointee who voted to remove her from the ballot along with Julie Glancey, a Democratic appointee, and Marge Bostelmann, a Republican appointee. “I don’t find this to be much of a close call. To me it’s pretty clear cut.”
But in the past, the commission allowed candidates who submitted their documents with mistakes, such as an incorrect election date, onto the ballot, Jacobs said.
“I think it is becoming a little too precise to say that adding one title in an otherwise completely perfect document should be sufficient to overcome the nomination,” she said.
Hendricks-Williams has worked in Gov. Tony Evers’ Milwaukee office and as an assistant director of teacher education at the state Department of Public Instruction.
The commission cleared all seven candidates to appear on the Feb. 16 primary ballot. The others are Jill Underly, superintendent of Pecatonica School District; Joe Fenrick, a Fond du Lac high school science teacher; Steve Krull, principal of Milwaukee’s Garland Elementary School and former Air Force instructor; and Troy Gunderson, Viterbo University professor and former superintendent of the School District of West Salem.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Photos: How Midwest schools are navigating COVID-19
Lupe Ramirez speaks at a small rally in front of city hall in East Chicago, Indiana, on Thursday, Nov. 12. She and others were there to speak out against alleged intimidation tactics employed by members of the East Chicago School Board.
Alex Watkins holds a sign at a small rally in front of the East Chicago City Hall on Thursday, Nov. 12. She and a small group gathered to speak out against alleged intimidation tactics employed by members of the East Chicago School Board.
With help from an interactive video board, HAST instructor Mira Projovic lectures remote high school students during a Women's Studies course on Sept. 24 in Hammond, Indiana.
Following a lecture for his science course, Hammond (Indiana) Academy of Science and Technology instructor Steve Grimm gives two thumbs-up to his remote eighth grade students on Sept. 22.
Lowell student fans are spaced apart in the student section as they cheer on the Red Devils against Portage on Aug. 29 in Lowell, Indiana.
Despite the rather unusual conditions, students remain diligent in their studies at Duneland Boys & Girls Club on Aug. 28 in Chesterton, Indiana. Boys & Girls Clubs have stepped up to fill child care needs in virtual learning communities.
A student waits for assistance from a Duneland Boys & Girls Club staff member on Aug. 28 in Chesterton, Indiana. Boys & Girls Clubs have stepped up to fill child care needs in virtual learning communities.
Nurse Lisa Bosnak dons gloves to clean her desk area after a sick student left the nurse's office at Lake Central High School on Aug. 21 in St. John, Indiana. Lake Central students returned to class this week. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.
Nurse Lisa Bosnak uses disinfectant wipes to clean the area in her office after a sick student was sent home Aug. 21 at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.
Nurses Carla VanDerNoord, left, and Lisa Bosnak compare notes while updating data related to whether students are on campus or e-learning Aug. 21 at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.
Nurse Carla VanDerNoord updates student information relating to whether they are on campus or currently e-learning Aug. 21 in the nurse's office at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.
Munster students use plastic buffer shields and social distancing in Hannah Fus’ American Sign Language class in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.
Munster High School students set up three-sided plastic buffers on their desks in Kelly Barnes’ English 9 classroom in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.
Munster High School Principal Michael Wells stands in the hallway near the main entrance in August as students pass for their next class. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.
Munster High School teacher Kelly Barnes logs in with her virtual learning students during her English 9 class in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.
In Central Illinois, a McLean County Unit District No. 5 school bus is operated by a driver wearing a mask on Friday.
Special Education teacher Dustin Underwood fills in as a substitute culinary arts teacher at Normal Community West High School in Central Illinois on Nov. 6.
Vehicles are lined up outside Grove Elementary School in Normal on Oct. 19, the first day of school. Parents were not allowed inside due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Susy Marcum, school nurse at Grove Elementary School in Normal, Illinois, works inside "The Bubble," a quarantine area set up in a classroom for her nurses station on Oct. 19, the first day of school. Students will isolate in the area until a parent can pick him or her up from school.
In Normal, Illinois, Grove Elementary School music teacher Gabe Myers, left, welcomes Laila Abouelmagd, 5, to kindergarten, as her grandmother, Dolores Callahan, and father, Mohamed Abouelmagd, unload her school supplies on Oct. 19.
Karlie Underwood, 17, a senior at Heyworth High School in Central Illinois, makes a podcast on Oct. 16.
Masked students leave Racine Lutheran High School on Thursday afternoon. It might have been one of the last times students at Racine Lutheran will be able to attend classes in person in 2020, since the city of Racine Health Department announced Thursday it would order all schools in its jurisdiction — both public and private — to close their buildings after Thanksgiving.
Madison Preschool of the Arts second-graders -- from left, Carl Pevehouse, Charlotte Austin and Gabe Mahaffey -- work on self-portraits, which includes showing their face masks. The early childhood center on Madison's West Side has pivoted to help families juggling jobs and assisting their elementary-age children with online learning.
Sherry White directs students to and from vehicles and the building on Friday at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois.
Sherry White directs students to vehicles during staggered times to allow safe distance for students at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois.
Third-grader Myleigh Taylor leaves school Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois on Friday.
Fifth-grader Braden Brown heads to his parents' car after school on Friday at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois. Parents pick up students during staggered times.
UW freshmen, from left, Elinor Picek, Lauren Sullivan and Audrey Sarasin use a timer to take photos around Camp Randall prior to kickoff of the Badgers' season opener against Illinois in Madison on Oct. 23. COVID-19 cases and positivity rates have been creeping upward on campus since late last month.
A sign on Madison Area Technical College's Truax campus in October informs students of COVID-19 protocols.
Illinois State University students test for COVID-19 on Aug. 24 in Normal.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, freshman Ramsey Folkerts carries boxes into a dorm Aug. 21 on the campus of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. The school has had to adapt numerous policies this academic year because of COVID.
Eastern Illinois University students Jenna Decker, from left, Katelyn Montgomery and Madeline McQueen walk around campus on Aug. 20 during move-in day.
