ST. CLOUD — A conservative candidate slate running for three open seats on the Sartell-St. Stephen school board was successful Tuesday while a similar conservative bloc running for St. Cloud school board was voted down in favor of incumbents and a newcomer.

The Sartell slate — Emily Larson, Jen Smith and Scott Wenshau — campaigned on promises to improve transparency, restore apolitical classrooms and promote parental rights. Larson, Smith and Wenshau earned 15.6%, 14.6% and 14.1% of the vote, respectively, among the nine candidates running for the three open seats on the six-member board.

Concerns over the conservative nature of the slate prompted the Sartell teachers union to endorse candidates for the first time. But the endorsed candidates fell short: Nate Crowe earned the fourth-highest vote total with 13.2% of the vote, and candidates Molly McCann and Kris Lawrence received the fifth- and seventh-highest vote counts of the nine candidates.

In the St. Cloud school district, voters elected incumbents Zachary Dorholt (20%) and Natalie Ringsmuth (18%), as well as newcomer Heather Weems (17.3%).

Dorholt, a psychotherapist, and Ringsmuth, a nonprofit director and anti-racism facilitator, were first elected in 2018. It was the first run for office for Weems, commissioner of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. She will fill the seat held by Les Green, who did not file for re-election. The three elected were endorsed by the St. Cloud teachers union.

The other three candidates — Mike Bueckers (16.5%), Nicole Rierson (15.5%) and Theresa Carlstedt (12.4%) — were supported by a conservative group called the Central Minnesota Freedom Advocates, which endorsed the trio as a slate to fill the three open spots.

St. Cloud voter Kristi Happel Christian, who has a transgender child, said she voted for the three members not affiliated with the conservative slate because she's concerned what is taught in the classroom — and who is accepted in the classroom — is at stake.

"The rights and future rights of my child are a huge concern of mine," she said.

For other voters, simple name recognition helped seal the fate for incumbents. St. Cloud resident Paul Severson, 70, said the main issue that brought him to the polls Tuesday was inflation. He said he didn't follow the school board race very closely but voted for the two names he recognized: Dorholt and Ringsmuth.

The elected candidates will join Scott Andreasen, Al Dahlgren, Shannon Haws and Monica Segura-Schwartz on the nonpartisan board that oversees the district of about 10,000 students. Members serve four-year terms.