Category Archives for Gail Spurlock

Live Blogging the July 31 Runoff Election

By TFN | Published July 31, 2012

Much of the attention tonight will focus on the Dewhurst v. Cruz senate race. But there are three Texas State Board of Education races on runoff ballots across the state as we wrap up the primaries and look toward November. Keep an eye on this post later tonight for updates on the SBOE races. Here’s […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, Celeste Zepeda Sanchez, Rebecca Osborne, Ruben Cortez Jr, TFN, Tincy Miller, Tom Maynard | 1 Comment

SBOE Candidate Spurlock to Women: Education Sucks and It’s All Your Fault (video)

By Jose | Published July 30, 2012

District 12 Texas State Board of Education candidate Gail Spurlock is building a reputation for extremism that might well win her fans (and votes) among far-right conservatives. But to a large swath of mainstream Texans, her latest comments are downright insulting. Spurlock, who has gone on record with her belief that the Pilgrims were communists […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, State Board of Education, TFN | 7 Comments

Texas Education Board Candidate Gail Spurlock Homeschooled Her Kids

By Dan | Published July 14, 2012

Donna “Jeffrey Dahmer Believed in Evolution” Garner’s fiery email exchange with Texas State Board of Education member George Clayton this week included a particularly interesting tidbit you might have missed. Garner suggested a variety of reasons for supporting Gail “Pilgrims Were Commies” Spurlock as Clayton’s replacement on the board. Among them, she said, is that […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, Cynthia Dunbar, Donna Garner, TFN | 15 Comments

Yowza — Fiery Email Exchange Suggests Texas Education Board Race Could Get Very Heated

By Dan | Published July 11, 2012

Texas State Board of Education member George Clayton’s guns are blazing in a searing email exchange that makes it clear he plans to run for re-election as a write-in candidate this November. Clayton finished third in the May 29 Republican primary for the Dallas-area, District 12 seat. Former state board member Geraldine “Tincy” Miller and […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, Donna Garner, George Clayton, LGBT issues, Lois Parrott, TFN, Tincy Miller | 9 Comments

Conservative Website Dings Texas Ed Board Candidate on ‘Pilgrims Were Commies’ Nonsense

By Dan | Published May 10, 2012

The conservative website Texas Insider calls Gail Spurlock’s bizarre history lesson about the Pilgrims its “quote of the week” “from Republicans behaving badly.” Spurlock is running in the GOP primary for the Dallas-area District 12 seat on the State Board of Education. From Texas Insider: “If one states the Pilgrims were radicals seeking a communist-socialist […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, TFN | 1 Comment

Texas Ed Board Candidate Doubles Down on ‘Pilgrims Were Communists’ Claim

By Dan | Published May 2, 2012

Gail Spurlock, a Republican candidate for the District 12 seat on the Texas State Board of Education, has written a “clarification” of her contention that the Pilgrims nearly destroyed their colony and themselves because they practiced communism. In an email being circulated today by supporter Donna “Jeffrey Dahmer Believed in Evolution” Garner, Spurlock suggests that […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, TFN | 8 Comments

Handful of Contests See the Most Money in Texas State Board of Education Races

By Dan | Published May 2, 2012

In the 1990s, San Antonio businessman James Leininger — the religious right’s sugar daddy in Texas — poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into State Board of Education (SBOE) races. That money helped hard-right social conservatives build a multi-year campaign to take control of the board — and turned subsequent board debates over textbooks and […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, Anette Carlisle, Barbara Cargill, creationism, David Bradley, David Williams, Don McLeroy, Donna Bahorich, George Clayton, Linda Ellis, Marisa Perez, Marty Rowley, Michael Soto, Pam Little, Peter Morrison, Randy Stevenson, Rita Ashley, TFN, Thomas Ratliff, Tincy Miller | Leave a comment

More From Ed Board Candidate Spurlock: No Sex Ed, Kids ‘Are Gonna Figure It Out on Their Own’ Anyway

By Dan | Published April 17, 2012

We told you yesterday that Gail Spurlock, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the District 12 State Board of Education seat in Texas, thinks the early Pilgrims were communists. Her views about sex education are similarly — how should we say — “out there.” In her interview with the right-wing North Texas Council, Spurlock […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, sex education, TFN | 11 Comments

Texas Education Board Candidate: The Pilgrims Were Communists!

By Jose | Published April 16, 2012

Informal rule of the Internet: If you Google what you think sounds like a wild historical claim and the first hit leads you to websites from conspiracy theorists and historical revisionists, your instincts are probably correct. Take, for example, a wild claim by Gail Spurlock, R-Richardson, who is running for her party’s nomination for the […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, TFN | 8 Comments

Another SBOE Candidate Stands Up to Experts!

By Dan | Published March 6, 2012

At least one candidate for the Texas State Board of Education apparently agrees with former board chairman Don McLeroy’s infamous demand that “somebody’s gotta stand up to experts!” An email — apparently from the Collin County Conservative Republicans PAC — includes a questionnaire and answers from state board candidate Gail Spurlock, R-Richardson. One of the […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, TFN | 12 Comments