After years of strife, Grossmont teachers union flips board supermajority in election stunner

This post has been updated to reflect vote counts released on Friday, Nov. 6.

In a repudiation of Grossmont Union High School District’s troubled governance, East County voters flipped a conservative super-majority on the board into a new 3-2 majority backed by the teachers union. 

While the board’s longest-serving member, Jim Kelly, remains, Gary Woods, after 20 years in his seat, looks like he will be replaced by administrator Jeneé Littrell, who, in Friday’s returns, holds a lead that grew to over 500 votes. 

Kelly and ally Scott Eckert, who was not up for reelection, will continue to represent the board’s conservative faction, but without the near certainty of a 4-1 vote carrying the day.  That frequent lone dissenting vote, Chris Fite, now likely will be joined by Littrell and Steve Mull come January when new members take their oaths of office. 

“If these trend lines hold and Jeneé gets onto the board, we will have a group of people that will really start to put students before their political ideology,” said Jackie Naah, a Valhalla High School teacher. 

Naah heads the Grossmont Educators Association’s (GEA) Political Action Committee, a role she said feels like a second full-time job. Naah decided the extra effort was necessary because of the chance to break the conservative supermajority. 

“Some of the choices and policy decisions were just so harmful to students that I couldn’t not do anything,” said Naah, who is also a parent of a student at Grossmont High School. 

Woods and Kelly were just as motivated to maintain power in the suburban school district, going so far as to describe their opponents as communists, not just educators who rejected their political ideology. 

To win, the teachers union had to overcome Kelly and Woods’ name recognition. No matter how scandal-ridden the Grossmont Union board has become — losing hefty lawsuits, leaving students without mental health services for months and funnelling hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to campaign donors, to name a few controversies from the last three years — it’s still a niche board. Busy parents hear the names over and over, but few remember the accusations of misconduct. 

That’s why educating the voter base was a major part of the trio of candidates’ campaigns. 

“It’s so complicated to describe, especially when you’re only at a door for a couple minutes,” said Littrell, the likely new representative for Area 3, in a phone call Thursday. 

She knocked on 2,000 doors in the months before election day, no matter the household’s party affiliation. 

“There was a large chunk of people who were completely unaware, and so even though they might historically have supported more of my opponent’s platform, I am so proud that East County doesn’t stand for corruption,” she said. 

With longtime board member Rob Shield, part of the supermajority, opting not to run again, the teachers union had a better chance of securing a win for their preferred candidate in Area 4. Steve Mull, a former middle school principal, is on pace to beat out two other candidates by over 1,000 votes. 

Even with an easier race that lacked an incumbent, the teachers union had never before built such an extensive campaign apparatus. Other groups stepped in to help, including regional labor unions and the California Teachers Association. 

“We really kind of had to build the airplane as it was flying,” Naah said. 

It was the first time running for each of the candidates, including retired teacher Pete Mergens, who lost to Kelly. 

“I certainly am not the political type, and I’m not a politician, so I had no clue what I was doing,” Mull said. 

The teachers association vetted its candidates well and Mull had solid credentials. In addition to multiple regional awards he received as a middle school principal, he was named the Lakeside Citizen of the Year in 2025. 

Given the strength of his background, the name-calling, pressure for supporters to rescind endorsements, and even communist smears, came as a surprise to him. 

“I’ve never been through anything like this in my life, but it gets pretty nasty,” Mull said. “I had no idea it was going to be like that. I just wanted to get in this to help kids.” 

Littrell said she was more prepared for that scenario, having watched Woods in action.

Name calling in her race against Woods was not as malicious as what happened two years ago in the race to elect Eckert. A supporter, with the board majority’s knowledge — as revealed in an infamous group chat — funded multiple spoiler candidates to enter the race, apparently to draw votes away from educator Jay Steiger (similar to the senatorial race scandal that occurred in Alaska this election cycle). 

Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy for Littrell. Two days before the election, Woods posted on Facebook, “Republicans endorse Dr. Gary Woods to protect children from transgender-promoting Marxists like Littrell.” 

“It didn’t feel good, but it was such a comfort to see so many people come out of the woodwork because they weren’t just defending the candidate; they were defending me and somebody that they personally knew, and what I stood for,” Littrell said. 

In addition to educating voters on the board’s behavior, other candidates, not just Littrell, had to correct disinformation about being communists. 

“The opposition really could only sling mud,” Naah said. “There was constant name calling and trying to call them Marxists and socialists, and they’re just parents and community members who, for years, have established careers taking good care of kids and families in East County. And we think that’s what East County values are.” 

The attack came after the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) published a voter guide recommending a vote for Mull, Littrell and Mergens. It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, just a tepid statement that the organization trusts the teachers union’s judgment in the board race. 

None of the candidates are members of DSA, yet it still managed to kick off a red scare.  

This attempt to fend off the board challengers came as public records revealed that months ago board allies were concerned about how this election would go. 

In correspondence uncovered through a California Public Records Act search, the district’s director of human resources, Jessica Merschtina, part of the board majority’s inner circle, wrote to Kelly about a confidential legal memo he leaked to her, “[Redacted] right before a three seat Board election when we have everything on the line… would only feed into the narrative that (Superintendent Kirsten Vital Brulte) is a hero and you and (trustee Woods) are awful… This is all about power.”

Merschtina was right. The board supermajority did have everything on the line. 

With a new board majority, Naah hopes that there will be less governing in secret and more trustees putting education first. 

“People are starting to realize that we don’t need career politicians on this local level. We don’t need people who are doing 25 years in these local positions, like they’re lording over a school board,” Naah said. “This isn’t supposed to be about your kingmaker status. It’s supposed to be about kids.”