3 Incumbents Head for Win in Newport-Mesa

In a school board race that had been likened to a “holy war,” three incumbents in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District were headed for victory Tuesday night over a heavily financed newcomer and two challengers bent on revamping sex education.

Incumbent Sherry Loofbourrow of Corona del Mar held a comfortable lead over Jo Ellen Allen of Corona del Mar after almost half the votes were counted. Longtime board member Rod MacMillian of Costa Mesa led district unknown Wendy Leece of Costa Mesa.

And incumbent Judith A. Franco of Newport Beach held a lead over the well-financed candidate Karen M. Evarts, who received at least $17,000 in campaign contributions, four times Franco’s amount.

“Our campaign was dedicated to tolerance and respect for diversity,” Loofbourrow said. “There was tremendous grass-roots support for that even when some of Orange County’s power brokers became involved against us.”

Sex education and whether the current board has ignored parents’ concerns emerged as key issues in the district, which has 26 schools and 16,000 students.

Incumbents likened the race to a holy war declared by religious and political extremists bent on imposing their own morality on the district with a campaign that included the possibility of banning certain instructional material and popular films.

Allen and Leece were heavily supported financially by members of the Committee to Restore Ethical and Traditional Education, a conservative group in Costa Mesa that believes that the district’s sex-education curriculum promotes homosexuality and promiscuity.

Allen also is state president of Eagle Forum, a conservative group with members nationwide. Last year, the California Congress of Parents, Teachers and Students Inc. labeled Eagle Forum an extremist organization that has tried to ban the novel “Of Mice and Men” and the film “Romeo and Juliet” at school districts across the country.

But Allen and Leece said religion and censorship had nothing to do with their positions. They said that the current board has denied parents a say in what their children learn, and both wanted the district’s sex-education courses to stress abstinence almost exclusively.

“One thing we can say is no matter what the outcome, it has affected the community,” Allen said. “More and more people will become involved in education.”

Evarts, who conceded that she was on her way to defeat, said she could not separate herself from Leece and Allen. “This was the difficulty of being a challenger,” she said. “The incumbents put on a strong campaign especially at the end, calling all three of us extremists.”

Marci Hanover contributed to this story