Campaign spending surging in Minnesota's suburban school board races

Erin Heers-McArdle caught a lot of flak for spending more than $9,000 during her first campaign for the Anoka-Hennepin school board. But the longtime disability rights activist knew she'd need a healthy war chest if she wanted to win in 2019.

"I was unseating a 20-year incumbent," Heers-McArdle said.

All told, more than $16,000 poured into the election that would determine half of the board overseeing Minnesota's largest school district that year. Fast forward to the next spate of races in 2021, and that sum more than tripled.

The financial picture could be similar this year. Anoka-Hennepin school board candidates have already raised nearly $7,000, according to campaign finance statements.

Off-year school board elections are typically among the sleepier political affairs in Minnesota. But a surge of interest in the inner workings of the state's public schools has made these once-docile affairs more competitive and their campaigns more expensive than ever.

Much of the increased focus on school board races, experts and insiders say, was a direct result of the pandemic. That trend seems likely to hold in the current election.

"There is certainly a greater interest," said Kirk Schneidawind, executive director of the Minnesota School Boards Association. "I think a part of it is COVID. All of a sudden, some people who may not necessarily have been engaged before are interested in running for these seats."

That increased interest has predominantly attracted more attention — and donors — to races in large suburban districts. Two years after Heers-McArdle spent over $9,000 to win her Anoka-Hennepin school board seat, fellow board member Matt Audette's campaign spent more than three times as much in his bid for the District 4 seat.

And this cycle, Heers-McArdle said, "I am raising more money than I did last time."

All told, candidates vying for a seat on the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school board tripled their spending from 2019 to 2021. The collective war chests in the South Washington County district more than quintupled.

Heers-McArdle went into her first campaign knowing she'd have to raise a hefty sum if she wanted to stand a chance against the benefit of incumbency afforded Tom Heidemann, who was first elected to the Anoka-Hennepin board in 1999.

That kind of name recognition is what Michelle Langenfeld is banking on to cement her bid for the District 5 position on the board. Langenfeld worked as an assistant superintendent in the Anoka-Hennepin district for nearly a decade before she was hired away to lead Green Bay Area Public Schools from 2014 to 2020.

She was a finalist to succeed longtime Anoka-Hennepin Superintendent David Law last year. Now, she's running to be one of six people supervising Superintendent Cory McIntyre, who started in July.

Minnesota law requires candidates who raise or spend more than $750 to file financial disclosures detailing how they used their campaign funds. Langenfeld expects to spend at least enough to require disclosure, but has so far shied away from any real fundraising.

"People will ask me how much money I would need, and I don't know," she said. "I'm trying to run a shoe-leather campaign. We'll see where the voters line up."

Like Langenfeld, Heers-McArdle says she expects much of her campaigning will consist of knocking on doors to introduce herself to community members who may not know her. Lawn signs and mailers are among the most common expenses in high-dollar campaigns. In 2019, Heers-McArdle spent nearly $3,800 — more than one-third of her total budget — on printed material.

But she said those shows of support don't always translate into votes.

"There comes a point where more money doesn't necessarily help. It's about relationship-building," she said.

Still, Schneidawind of the school boards association hopes the mounting costs of running for hyperlocal elections in Minnesota's largest suburbs turn out to be a temporary blip.

"You certainly don't want the campaign contributions to be a barrier for people to run," he said. "Most people who are running in these races see it as a community service. It would be sad to lose sight of that."