Current Elected Republican Williamson County School Board Member Endorses Progressive Candidate, Brands Republican Candidate As An “Extremist”
As the Williamson County Schools Board races heat up, based on reports and statements on social media, Jay Galbreath, the sitting board member from District 6, who ran and was elected as a Republican, has chosen to endorse not the fellow republican candidate in D7 Angela Beaton, but rather her opponent, Melissa Wyatt, who has chosen to run as an Independent.
Wyatt, who identifies herself in her campaign website as a “moderate” but falls short of aligning with a political party, has been found to have made several contributions to ACT BLUE, a progressive democrat fundraising platform.
Based on the documentation, Wyatt used the platform to make several donations to Joe Biden’s campaign, and just to the platform in general.
Act Blue has been home to some of the largest, and most radical grassroots progressive fundraising campaigns, like Black Lives Matter. Wyatt is also against teachers having access to their 2nd Amendment rights in the classroom as stated on her website.
According to this report, “just over 5.7 million contributions were made on the platform in the second quarter of 2020, a sharp increase from the 1.4 million recorded in the previous quarter. In a statement, ActBlue pointed to bail funds and other fundraisers on the ActBlue platform begun in response to the nationwide protests over the deaths of Black Americans in police custody, including George Floyd, as a reason for the spike….
“Black activists and Black-led organizations made history in Q2 2020, leading the way as people around the world organized and protested against police violence and anti-Black racism,” ActBlue wrote in a blog post.
So, it was quite a surprise when Galbreath took to social media to make a lengthy statement on why it is he was supporting Melissa Wyatt as the candidate of choice instead of a fellow republican (see below):
Galbreath said regarding his statement:
I understand that some will raise over me supporting an independent over a Republican, I’ve never done that before, but the rules have changed. Maybe not the actual rule, but the selective enforcement of it. My opponent in the 2022 election ran as an Independent against me, the GOP primary nominee and the general election. When we raised the issue of whether my opponent or those supporting her with time and money for the WCRP rules, the Tennessee State GOP turned a blind eye. Angela Beaton was one of those supporters campaigning against me…..so I am prepared to take full responsibility and support my decision but if anyone wants to challenge my endorsement and say that I am somehow less of a Republican, I am open to that debate”.
In essence, Galbreath defends his decision because an endorsement doesn’t technically break the Williamson County Republican Party bylaws, insofar as he has interpreted them.
A review of Galbreath’s vote record from 2021-2023 on the most important issues from Williamson County parents found the following: