School board races are technically nonpartisan. But in 2026 can that really be true?
Montgomery County residents should brace for a decidedly partisan tone ahead of November’s general election for an at large seat on the school board.
Voters have gotten a taste of how the local Republican and Democratic parties are approaching the candidacy of Brenda Diaz, a former Montgomery County Public Schools teacher who resigned from the district after violating the mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is expected to face Omar Lazo, a businessman and Montgomery College trustee, on Nov. 3, based on preliminary primary results.
The race will fill one of eight seats on the school board, which oversees Maryland’s largest district. In the coming years, the board will face tight budgets, declining enrollment and potential campus closures.
The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee recently changed its rules so it could oppose school board candidates who don’t align with party values. It drafted a statement against Diaz and encouraged volunteers to share it with voters.
“Our children deserve an education that is free from hate and biases. The MCDCC urges Democrats and all other voters to reject Brenda Diaz,” it reads.
Meanwhile, the county GOP threw its support behind Diaz.
Chairman Dennis Melby said Republicans wanted guidance on how to vote and Diaz was best suited for the endorsement.
“We want people that will protect the teachers, protect the students, protect the staff. Push STEM − that would be great,” he said. “And also keep boys out of girls’ bathrooms and boys out of girls’ sports.”
READ MORE: Dept. of Education investigates Maryland schools’ gender-identity policies
In a county where roughly 60% of voters are registered Democrats, this messaging could carry weight.
“School board elections in Montgomery County and nationally are increasingly taking on partisan coloration, even if party labels are not used,” University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth said.
Diaz also ran for a school board seat in 2024. She lost to Natalie Zimmerman, who captured roughly 57% of the vote.
That year, the teacher’s union endorsed Zimmerman. This go-round, the union placed Lazo on its influential Apple Ballot.
Lazo is also a leader in the Latino Democratic Club of Montgomery County. He unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat in 2022 for a County Council seat.
He did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Diaz said she’s frustrated to be known as the teacher who violated the mask mandate.
“It was a pretty intense run the last time,” she said. “A lot of the dissent came from people who were categorizing me as some far-right extremist, when all I was doing was just protecting my bodily autonomy and my constitutional freedoms.”
Diaz was poised to secure the second-highest number of votes in Tuesday’s primary. She said that signaled voters are ready for a fresh voice on the board.
“I have to continue to hammer the fact that I’m here to talk about academic excellence and the achievement gap, and closing the achievement gap,” she said. “I’m not actually participating in a lot of the things that both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are engaging in.
“I see myself, and I think I function, as an outsider.”
Strong Maryland, a super political action committee that has worked against Diaz, has nearly $23,000 cash on hard, according to its June 12 financial report. The group has paid for social media campaigns drumming up opposition.
“I’m honored that they find me to be such a threat,” Diaz said.
As part of its negative advertisements, it highlighted a March social media post in which Diaz wrote: “Instead of fully funding #MCPS, it’s time to @DOGE MCPS!”
Farnsworth said that could touch a nerve in a county where thousands of people recently lost their federal government jobs.
“This is not the kind of thing you’d want to say if you want to win an election in Montgomery County,” he said.
Michael Petrilli, president of the conservative-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said the fact that Diaz’s candidacy has mobilized a sizable number of voters should send a message. She’s been a vocal critic of the teachers union, the budget process and board operations.
“The chances that she’s actually going to prevail in November seem awfully low,” said Petrilli, an MCPS dad. “But the fact that she got this far, I think, should be seen as something of a wake-up call to the county’s schools and the school board that there’s a lot of parents out there that are angry.”
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