St. Johns County District 5 School Board candidates Linda Thomson, left, and Bethany Hilbert.
Published on October 28, 2024 at 2:36 pm
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The Nov. 5 general election is just a formality for many races in St. Johns County, where a number of incumbents are running against write-in candidates who aren’t campaigning.
But one major countywide seat is still up for grabs.
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Candidates Linda Thomson and Bethany Hilbert are campaigning for the District 5 seat on the St. Johns County School Board. The district includes a chunk of central St. Johns County and all of St. Augustine.
The seat is open because School Board Member Patrick Canan chose not to seek reelection.
Thomson, who has worked in education in Virginia and St. Johns County, has an extensive history in education from the administrative side, while Hilbert brings the perspective of an active local teacher to the race.
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Hilbert touts 20 years of experience in the classroom since she graduated with a bachelor’s degree of elementary education from Flagler College in 2003.
Thomson, during her more than 40-year career, taught math and worked as a principal. Most recently, she served as St. Johns County’s director of curriculum for K-12 education, retiring from her post in 2017.
Thomson was previously elected to serve on the St. Augustine Port, Beach and Waterway District, but she resigned from that post to run for the School Board.
Hilbert hasn’t previously been elected to public office, but she promotes her involvement with the school district, namely as a robotics coach at Ketterlinus Elementary in St. Augustine, where she teaches.
During the 2019-2020 school year, Hilbert was selected as the school’s teacher of the year.
School board politics
Although an amendment on the November ballot could change things, School Board races in Florida are currently nonpartisan contests. That means candidates are not running associated with any political party. Anyone, regardless of what party they’re registered with, can vote in those races.
School Board campaigns have become far from nonpartisan, however, with Gov. Ron DeSantis offering endorsements in School Board races and conservative groups like Moms for Liberty galvanizing some candidates and voters.
St. Johns County has no notable Moms for Liberty presence and DeSantis didn’t provide any endorsements, so the School Board race is far less bombastic than others across the state and even Northeast Florida.
Both Thomson and Hilbert are registered to vote as Republicans, but Thomson’s history with the party goes back longer than her opponent’s.
Thomson donated to Mitt Romney during his presidential bid against President Barack Obama, and she has a history of donating to the Republican Party of Florida, President Donald Trump’s Save America political action committee and other conservative groups.
Hilbert, meanwhile, has no history of donating to national or statewide political campaigns to speak of. She registered to vote with the Republican Party in 2021. Before that, Hilbert was registered to vote as a Democrat.
Thomson’s website declares that she is a conservative and displays her endorsements from the St. Johns County Republican Party — which she serves as secretary — and the Nocatee Conservative Club. Hilbert, meanwhile, notes on her website that she is “not driven by a political agenda.”
The St. Johns County Democratic Party chose not to endorse a candidate in this race.
To read more about Hilbert and Thomson as well as other candidates running for office in St. Johns County, see the Jacksonville Today Voter Guides.
