In a Monday appearance on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, school board trustee-elect Stephanie Elad said her election victory is “just the beginning in Frisco.”
Bannon, former executive chairman of Breitbart News and former adviser to President Donald Trump, put her win in more grandiose terms: “It’s just the beginning in the nation,” he said.
“And this is how we’re going to take the nation back — village by village, school district by school district,” Bannon said.
He’s been dubbed a “far-right political provocateur” by the Anti-Defamation League. In 2016, when he was still leading Breitbart News, Bannon told a reporter “we’re the platform for the alt-right.”
Bannon has been described as a white nationalist, but he says he’s not.
When reached by phone, Elad declined to comment on her appearance on the show.
She won the three-way race by nearly 1,200 votes, defeating Dustin Paschal —who had the endorsement of outgoing board secretary Chad Rudy. Her campaign heavily focused on culture war topics, including critical race theory.
In The Dallas Morning News’ voter guide, she said other high priority items for her included addressing teacher turnover and public/private partnerships between the district and businesses.
She said she decided to run for school board after her own experience speaking at a meeting in fall 2020.
“The board president at the time, during a board meeting, said to attendees, ‘This is OUR meeting.’ That didn’t sit right with me,” Elad wrote.
On the ballot, trustee positions are nonpartisan. But the role has become politicized in the past year as school boards have addressed hot-button issues, like pandemic-era public health protocols, and how to teach students about race, gender, sexuality and U.S. history. As a result, school board races have heated up.
Frisco ISD’s school board elections this month were no exception — and it caught the attention of national conservative political action committees. One national group ran text campaigns for Elad and Marvin Lowe, another right-wing candidate, Texas Monthly reported.
The duo gained the endorsement of the New York–based 1776 Project, an organization that wants to help elect school board trustees who promote “patriotism and pride in American history.” It also funded candidates in other suburban education races across North Texas and the country.
Elad has gone on other conservative talk shows before. Some of her appearances include on Dallas-based media mogul Glenn Beck’s show, Freedom Talks, and Canadian conservative TV personality Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson’s show.
“You’re representative of something much, much larger,” Bannon said of Elad’s win.
“So I want everybody today in the world that has time to go congratulate [her], cause the school board won’t congratulate her.”
