Ananda Mirilli: I was falsely depicted as pro-voucher

Pat Schneider:

It was a blistering blog last week by conservative David Blaska about the Madison School Board race that also-ran Ananda Mirilli says prompted her to protest that her campaign was a victim of political shenanigans long before Sarah Manski's jaw-dropping withdrawal from the race.

Blaska called Seat 5 primary winner Manski's pullout from the School Board race 48 hours after the primary as "so cheap and tawdry it defies explanation" and skewered the local liberal "Tammany Hall" that endorsed her.

Negative reaction to Manski's move isn't just coming from the right: "Has Madison politics ever seen such high-handed, self-absorbed behavior as that of leading vote-getter Sarah Manski?" asks former Isthmus editor Marc Eisen in a column.

In the aftermath of Manski's withdrawal, people have questions. Some are speculating whether there was a conspiracy to recruit Manksi to run, knowing she might drop out, and then replace her on the School Board with a union-friendly pick. "Now we might have a conspiracy of liberals putting a person of color down ... what about other conspiracies that people were pegged in to?" asks Mirilli, whose third-place primary finish keeps her off the April 2 ballot.

Mirilli said she doesn't know what to make of the timing of Manski's withdrawal: "It's a coincidence -- who knows who is telling the truth? But without a doubt, there was a conspiracy to say that I was pro-voucher," Mirilli told me Wednesday. "But no one is investigating that."

Mirilli shared an old email exchange Wednesday, before announcing that she would not pursue a write-in campaign, as many observers had been urging.

Much more on the 2013 Madison School Board Elections, here.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 28, 2013 5:40 AM
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