Lower Merion Republicans sent out a ‘Democratic sample ballot’ with GOP-backed school board candidates

Ahead of Tuesday’s primary, voters in the Lower Merion School District received mailers advertising a Democratic sample ballot, along with bubbles filled in next to the names of three school board candidates.

“Vote for your endorsed candidates,” the mailer read in part.

In fine print along one side of the mailer was the phrase: “Paid for by RCLMN” — the Republican Committee of Lower Merion and Narberth.

The mailer promoting Talia Nissim, Jacob Rudolph, and Deena Pack — all of whom will appear on the Democratic ballot Tuesday but have been endorsed by the GOP — drew outcry from some residents, who told The Inquirer they found it deceptive and unethical.

The local Democratic committee, which has endorsed a separate slate of four candidates — board president Kerry Sautner, member Anna Shurak, and newcomers Juanita Kerber and Jennifer Rivera — called the mailer a deliberate attempt to confuse voters.

“Sending out a fake Democratic sample ballot to mislead voters is a tactic pulled straight from the Trump playbook and it’s reprehensible,” the Democratic Committee of Lower Merion and Narberth said in a statement. The committee said Republicans “have shown once again why we can’t separate national politics from our local school board race.”

The Republican committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment; neither did Nissim, Rudolph, or Pack.

The mailer comes amid a heated campaign for the Lower Merion school board, as nine candidates on the Democratic ballot vie for four spots to advance to the November general election.

Because Pennsylvania allows school board candidates to cross-file, appearing on both party ballots, some of those nine candidates — including Nissim, Rudolph, and Pack — also appear on the Republican ballot. But Lower Merion is heavily Democratic, meaning the winners of the Democratic primary Tuesday will be favored in November.

The Democratic-endorsed slate has said it is committed to defending public education against attacks from President Donald Trump’s administration, and upholding diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Opponents have accused the endorsed Democrats of failures in leadership and in taking a hard line against antisemitism.

A mailer previously sent out by the local Democratic committee promoting the endorsed slate featured cartoon Trump heads next to the names of the GOP-backed candidates — a depiction protested by candidates and voters, who called it unnecessarily divisive.

But voters like Sandra Janoff said the Republican mailer sent this weekend — which included promises to bring “responsible budgeting and transparency,” “address antisemitism and hate in schools,” and “improve special education services” — was manipulative.

When Janoff, a registered Democrat, first looked at the mailer, “it was disorienting, because the names didn’t match” those of the Democratic-endorsed candidates she recalled from lawn signs she had noticed around town. She noticed the “very tiny print” that said RCLMN, she said, but “you have to figure out what those letters mean.”

Janoff, who then confirmed that the candidates listed were not the endorsed Democrats, said she “went from that moment of curiosity and confusion to real outrage.” A newcomer to Lower Merion who previously lived in Philadelphia, Janoff said she did not expect the “lack of civility” in national politics to exist in the same way in her community.

“The manipulation — it’s got to stop somewhere. And it’s not stopping on the local level,” she said.