BENTONVILLE -- A donation from Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar has helped Bentonville School Board member Rebecca Powers earn significantly more financial support in her bid for re-election than her opponent, according to campaign finance reports filed this month.
Powers, who is pursuing her second term on the board, reported monetary contributions of $4,055 as of Sept. 1. The Duggars, who live in Tontitown, and Don and Debbie Revelle of Bentonville both gave $1,000 to her campaign, the most of any of Powers' donors.
Early Voting
Early voting in Arkansas school board elections began Tuesday. As of late Wednesday afternoon, 21 votes had been cast in the Bentonville School Board Zone 1 race and 64 votes had been cast in the Rogers School Board Zone 5 race. Early voting ends Monday. The election is Tuesday.
Source: Benton County clerk’s office
Thirteen contributors gave Powers at least $50. State Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers, gave $50. The Benton County Republican Women organization donated $250. Powers also received $580 in nonmonetary contributions, according to her campaign finance report.
Eowyn Francis Moore is challenging Powers. Moore will report monetary donations of $776 in an amended finance report she plans to file this week, according to Gretchen Bellamy, one of Moore's supporters. A report Moore filed Tuesday contained incorrect figures.
Moore's largest contribution of $150 came from Ingrid Busson, listed as a lawyer from Brooklyn, N.Y. Moore also received donations of $100 each from individuals in Washington, D.C., and West Hollywood, Calif.
School board elections will be held Tuesday. Early voting started this week. Pre-election campaign reports were due to the county clerk's office Tuesday.
Powers holds the board's Zone 1 seat, which encompasses parts of Bella Vista and Centerton. Only residents of the zone are eligible to vote in the election.
The Duggar family starred for years in the 19 Kids and Counting television show on the TLC cable network. TLC canceled the show this year in the wake of controversy surrounding Josh Duggar, the oldest of the Duggars' 19 children. An attempt to reach the Duggar family for comment Wednesday was unsuccessful.
Bellamy and Amy Gillespie, co-founders of the group Bentonville Public Schools Citizens for Equality, blasted Powers for accepting the Duggars' contribution in a statement they issued Wednesday. They are supporting Moore's candidacy.
"The substantial donation by the Duggars in a campaign for public school board of education in a district in which they do not reside signifies that this campaign, on their part, is less about electing the most qualified candidate and more about a specific religious and anti-gay political agenda," the statement read.
Gillespie and Bellamy supported a proposal made this year by board member Grant Lightle to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes under the School District's Equal Employment Opportunity policy. Powers was one of four board members who voted against that proposal last month.
"We question Ms. Powers' judgment in accepting the Duggar contribution, considering the diverse population for which she is seeking another term to serve," the Citizens for Equality statement read.
Powers was stunned by the criticism. She said it was an honor to receive the Duggars' donation.
"Many people have a continued love and respect for them in our community and around the nation and world," Powers wrote, in an emailed statement. "They have boldly stood for Christian family values. For Gretchen Bellamy, Amy Gillespie, Bentonville Citizens for Equality, and my opponent to come out and try to attack myself and the Duggar family at this time is typical, but not surprising due to their Name and Shame Campaign against me on their Facebook page. Their actions suggest they are against anyone who is a Christian, or anyone who supports Christian conservative values, who are also a part of the constituents in my zone."
Powers said she met Michelle Duggar years ago, but doesn't have a close relationship with her or the Duggar family. She learned of their donation only after asking her campaign manager for the list of contributors to her campaign, she said.
On the expenses side, Powers reported spending $1,677, leaving her with $2,378 as of Sept. 1. Moore had spent $920 as of Tuesday, leaving her with a deficit of $144 in her campaign fund, according to Bellamy.
There's also a race for a Rogers School Board seat in next week's election. Paige Sultemeier and Dulce Aguirre are vying for the Zone 5 seat now held by Jerry Carmichael, who opted not to seek re-election after 16 years on the board.
Aguirre's finance report, filed Friday, showed she had received donations of $569, including $100 from herself. Salvador Duran of Rogers gave her $200. Dan Shewmaker, a board member with Northwest Arkansas Community College, gave her $50. Aguirre had spent $244 as of Friday, leaving her with $325.
Sultemeier's report, filed Tuesday, showed she had not raised any money, but had spent $1,857.
NW News on 09/10/2015