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Kemple attacks Snively's Republican, conservative credentials in School Board race

 
Melissa Snively was a Democrat, then changed parties in 2012.
Melissa Snively was a Democrat, then changed parties in 2012.
Published Oct. 19, 2014

TAMPA — Seeking to round up every last conservative vote in his bid for a Hillsborough County School Board seat, Terry Kemple has issued a point-by-point comparison that shows he is farther to the right than insurance agent Melissa Snively, his opponent in District 4.

She's not even a longtime Republican, Kemple is telling voters. She was a Democrat, then changed parties in 2012, kind of a reverse Charlie Crist.

Snively, who has seen the comparison piece, calls it "disappointing," as School Board is a nonpartisan race.

She did switch parties, she said. A lifetime Southern Democrat whose military father was a Democrat, she said she was watching the televised debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in 2012 when she decided, "that's it."

As a small business owner, she said, "I was always very supportive of the Republican Party." Watching Obama's lackluster performance, "I was inspired to do it the next morning." At the time, she said, she had not yet contemplated her own run for office.

But that's not the only issue Kemple has with Snively.

His comparison ad also finds her too friendly to school superintendent MaryEllen Elia and too open-minded on the issues of gay marriage and abortion. Specifically, he says, Snively is "unsure if unborn babies should have the right to life."

Much of the information in Kemple's comparison ad comes from survey responses he picked up at the Bell Shoals Baptist Church candidate forum. "This was not inside dope," he said.

If some of the issues seem a bit far afield, Kemple says they are very relevant. "People are making a decision based upon the foundations of their belief," he said.

More to the point, sex education is taught in the schools, often using an "abstinence-plus" theme that allows for safe sex. That's the wrong message, says Kemple, citing cases where teen pregnancy decreased when students were taught that abstinence until marriage was the only option. He says his position is supported by state law, which calls for schools to "promote the benefits of a monogamous, heterosexual marriage."

Kemple is making the case that school boards — this one in particular — are bastions of liberal thinking. Stacy White was the one consistent conservative voice on the board, and he's leaving to join the Hillsborough County Commission. In the other two School Board races, Kemple says Sally Harris and Dipa Shah get his conservative stamp of approval.

All of which leaves Snively asking, "shouldn't it be about school issues, qualifications and merit?" She thinks Kemple is smarting because she has endorsements from Republicans and Democrats, not to mention both daily newspapers and the Hillsborough teachers' union.

"If this is the worst he can dig up on me, that I was a Democrat, then I guess that's okay," she said. "But I am disappointed. He went on the record saying he was going to stay positive."

Reach Marlene Sokol at (813) 226-3356 or msokol@tampabay.com. Follow @marlenesokol.