Non-partisan elections for the State Board of Education?

80(R) HB 603 – Introduced version – Bill Text:

�������(b)��Members of the board are elected at biennial general elections held in compliance with the Election Code. A candidate’s name for the board may appear on the ballot only as an independent candidate and Chapter 142, Election Code, applies to a candidate for the board.
�������SECTION�2.��Section 1.005, Election Code, is amended by amending Subdivision (9) to read as follows: �������������(9)��”Independent candidate” means a candidate in a nonpartisan election or a candidate in a partisan election who is not the nominee of a political party. The term includes a candidate for the State Board of Education. �������SECTION�3.��Section 142.001, Election Code, is amended to read as follows:
�������Sec.�142.001.��APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter applies to:
�������������(1)��an independent candidate for an office that is to be voted on at the general election for state and county officers except the offices of president and vice-president of the United States; and
�������������(2)��any candidate for the State Board of Education.
�������SECTION�4.��Chapter 161, Election Code, is amended by adding Section 161.0031 to read as follows: �������Sec.�161.0031.��NOMINATION FOR STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION PROHIBITED. A political party may not make a nomination for the office of State Board of Education.

I thought this was an interesting bill. Would this mean that people wouldn’t get elected to the board just because they happen to be associated with one party? Maybe Maggie Charleton might have beaten Don McLeroy if both had to run as independents?