Board of Education candidate dropping out of Craven County race due to current employer
A candidate for Craven County Board of Education announced Monday he's dropping out of the race after discovering that as a federal employee he is prohibited from running for political partisan office.
During New Bern Live's Parent Talk morning show, Michael Genovese, who had been running for the BOE seat in District 4, said he is an employee of Fleet Readiness Center East at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. As such he's bound by the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from participating in partisan political activity.
When the Sun Journal reached out for comment Monday afternoon Genovese confirmed the news.
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Craven County Board of Election Executive Director Meloni Wray also confirmed Genovese contacted the board Monday to say he is dropping out.
The law’s purpose is to ensure federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
Politics: Craven Board of Education elections now partisan after party-line vote
Genovese is one of two Republican candidates running in the May 17 primary election; Sharon Bichaukas is the other. The winner of the primary will move on to face Democratic candidate Victor Dove, who was appointed to the board in March 2021.
Running as a partisan candidate is not a crime. But Genovese's employment could be in jeopardy if he stays in the race.
The Sun Journal reached out to Genovese and Bichaukas with a candidate questionnaire in March; Genovese was the only District 4 candidate to respond.
This year is his third attempt at running for the board of education. He says teacher recruitment and retention, including the hiring of more special education teachers and teacher assistants, is one of the most important issues happening in Craven County. He also said student learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic needed to be addressed.
Genovese's name will remain on the May 17 ballot. If he wins, Genovese said he will decline the Republican nomination. Then the Craven County Republican Party executive committee would have to submit to the board of elections the party's nominee for the November general election ballot 75 days before or earlier.
If Bichaukas wins the primary, she will move on to the general e
Craven County school board elections became partisan for the first time since 1995 after a vote in the N.C. General Assembly last fall. It means candidates for future school board elections will run affiliated with a political party.
In Onslow County, the mostly Democratic school board was erased when residents voted in a 100% Republican board after the district changed its elections back to partisan in 2018. While Craven board members serve on staggered terms, Onslow's do not, with the entire board becoming Republican inside one election cycle.
Reporter Trevor Dunnell can be reached by email at tdunnell@newbernsj.com. Please consider supporting local journalism by signing up for a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: Craven County school board candidate's job revealed, halting candidacy
