Princeton voters elected Mara Franceschi, Ari Meisel and Christopher Santarpio, to the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education in the Nov. 5 general election.
Franceschi was elected to her second term. Meisel and Santarpio are newcomers to the school board. They were chosen by voters from among a field of six candidates that included incumbent school board member Franceschi.
According to unofficial votes tallied released by the Mercer County Clerk’s Office, Franceschi earned the most votes with 5,077 ballots cast for her. Santarpio received 4,398 votes and Meisel got 4,217 votes.
Erica Snyder placed fourth with 4,093 votes. Z. Lisa Potter earned 3,939 votes and Shenwei Zhao got 2,751 votes.
The term is for three years.
The school board election was marked by allegations of racism and opposition to DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – leveled against Potter and Zhao. They were the only two Asian candidates for school board. The other four candidates are white.
Potter and Zhao said the allegations of racism and opposition to DEI had an effect on the election results.
“I think Princeton voters decided to keep the status quo (in their choice of candidates),” Zhao said.
In a blog post, Potter wrote that a “deeply unsettling message has been circulating, accusing me of being ‘anti-DEI’ and labeling me as a ‘racist provocatuer.’ Not only are these claims baseless, but they are also deeply hurtful.
“The false narrative that Shenwei Zhao and I – the two minority candidates, both Asian – are ‘anti-DEI’ not only perpetuates harmful stereotypes, but also undermines the important conversations we need to have about inclusion and equity,” she wrote.
Potter wrote that the person who claimed that she and Zhao were racist and anti-DEI did not provide proof of those assertions, yet demanded answers from them as if they owed something to their accusers. The tactic amounted to gaslighting – flipping the narrative to make the victim look like the aggressor, she wrote.
“Basically, DEI for Asians – we are too privileged to need inclusion,” Potter said.
The vote tallies are unofficial until the Mercer County Clerk’s Office certifies them later this month. The vote tallies include early voting, mail-in ballots and Election Day voting.
