When the votes were counted after Tuesday’s primary elections, one of the biggest surprises to many observers of the local political scene was the victory of political novice Stephanie Campbell over incumbent Michael Johnson in the nonpartisan race for District Seven on the school board.
Campbell won a three-way race, capturing 52% of the votes cast.
Of the 31,627 registered voters in District Seven, 3,223 votes were cast for the school board candidates. With 10.2 percent voter participation, District Seven had the lowest voter turnout of the three school board districts that were contested (District One 18.9 percent voter turnout, and District Three 11.5).
On election night, Campbell and her husband were at a party hosted by Beth Majeroni at Arnie’s Tavern at the Marshwood Clubhouse of The Landings on Skidaway Island. Majeroni, who ran against Sen. Ben Watson in the Republican primary, garnered 38 percent of the vote in her race.
According to Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports, Majeroni, who has spoken in front of the SCCPSS school board more than two dozen times, donated to Campbell’s campaign. Majeroni says, “I think Mrs. Campbell will do a great job.”
Campbell has confirmed that she is affiliated with a group called Ladies on the Right, a conservative political advocacy organization of which Majeroni is a founding member.
In an interview with Connect Savannah before the election, Campbell said, “I believe that schools should model and teach civic virtues to our students – responsibility, integrity, compassion, and respect, to name a few. We should cultivate critical thinking skills within the classroom, while also demonstrating and expecting the virtues that lead to active and thriving citizenship in adulthood. I oppose the teaching of divisive concepts (e.g. Marxist ideology, critical race theory) which focus on our differences rather than our individuality and ability to reason. I believe that our education system should teach children how to think and not what to think.”
In a midnight statement on Facebook after the election results were tallied, Campbell wrote, “I am absolutely humbled by the outpouring of support from voters across the district who agree that We Can Do Better. There are too many people to thank individually for the success of this campaign today, but to each one of you who have supported me in countless ways, I offer my heartfelt thanks. We must shake up the status quo so local students can realize their full, God-given potential. That work begins in haste and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve.”
So, who is Stephanie Campbell?
Born and raised in Savannah, Campbell graduated from Savannah Christian Preparatory School. She then went on to the University of Georgia and earned her master’s degree from the Medical College of Georgia (MCG). After working at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Yale University Medical Center as a pediatric emergency nurse, Campbell returned home to teach Health Science students at Virginia College and South University. Campbell attends First Presbyterian Church in Pooler, where she teaches Sunday School.
Campbell ran a textbook campaign, significantly outraising her opponents. Generally, incumbents have a fundraising advantage, but not in SCCPSS school board elections this cycle.
According to her Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report filed on April 30, 2024, Campbell took in donations totaling $27,700, far more than her opponents for that same filing period.
Incumbent Michael Johnson reported $5,825, and Jay Jones $3,525.
Barbara Hubbard and Tanet Taharka Myers also outraised the incumbents in their school board races and shared some of the same donors as Campbell.
Of the $27,700 that Campbell reported raising in April, only $1,950 was in small dollar donations of $100 or less.
The most notable donors reported were Marty and Cindy Daniel, owners of Daniel Defense, a firearms manufacturing company in Bryan County, with $6,600 contributed to Campbell.
In 2022, School Board President Roger Moss received a $1,000 contribution from Marty and Cindy Daniel, but returned the money stating, “It was right after one of the school shootings. I couldn’t sit well with it. We work with kids.”
Jesse Bentley, division manager of Evans General Contractors, contributed the maximum allowed per individual of $3,300; and his colleague, Jeffery Jepson, added another $2,000 to the $27,700 reported.
Campbell’s husband, Chris, donated $3,000 to the campaign; Greg Parker $1,000; Clark Deriso $1,000; Louis Barbin $1,500; and her parents, David and Sharyl Collison, $1,000. Other contributions listed in the report ranged from $150 to $500.
Candidates are required to file updated contributions and expenditures reports by June 30 with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.
In an open letter to the voters of District Seven, Chris Campbell, the candidate’s husband, in part said, “If you have opened your front door to find a door hanger (we’ve been to a couple thousand residences), it most likely has her fingerprint on it. We have walked dozens of miles, sometimes in the rain endeavoring to meet as many of you as we could.”
SCCPSS School Board President Roger Moss has advice to share with the newly elected school board member, Stephanie Campbell:
“As someone told me, campaigning is one thing, doing the job is another.
My advice is that she needs to start coming to meetings. It is one thing to watch them on Youtube, but it is another to be there in person. I encourage her to download all of the documents and read them, so that she knows the truth about what is really happening. The truth is that there is a lot of work that needs to be done, but we have already done a lot, especially around literacy. She is going to learn a lot. I welcome her and encourage her to have an open mind. Many of her preconceived notions will be challenged. She will be under a microscope, she is a public figure now; that is the job she asked for when she campaigned.”
Campbell will start her term on January 1, 2025 and receive an annual salary of $25,000. The school board meets once monthly, generally on the first or second Wednesday.
Correction May 26,2024: Stephanie Campbell has no affiliation with Moms for Liberty as previously reported in the May 25, 2024 story.
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This article appears in Connect Savannah I Best of Savannah.