Do not vote for Brenda Diaz. Here's why.

[Anonymous]

I would strongly urge any MCPS parents against voting to elect Brenda Diaz to the Board of Education. One prominent aspect of her campaign is that she is a former MCPS teacher, but what she leaves out is that she left this position after violating mask mandates in 2021. On Substack, she has written that, "Currently, leftist ideologies are deeply embedded within our school system, limiting freedom of thought and expression. BLM and LGBTQ+ flags adorn classrooms and hallways. Critical race theory is at the center of Social Studies education, from elementary to high school . . . what happens to anyone who believes differently? Where do those children and their families fit in our schools and our communities?" Well beyond a dog whistle, let's see this as what it is; an admission that Brenda Diaz "believes differently" to statements that Black lives matter and LGBTQ+ people exist at all. She has also spoken at a Q&A panel for Moms for Liberty, a highly extremest far-right organization that has been noted for harassing and making violent threats towards educators. Lastly, it should be noted that the official position of the MCPS Democratic Party opposes her, likely for all of the reasons listed above. Parents, if you care about your children and want them to have the best school experience possible, don't vote for Brenda Diaz and make sure to spread the word!

Sources:
- https://bethesdamagazine.com/2026/01/22/brenda-diaz-school-board/
- https://brilliantresilience.substack.com/p/protecting-our-childrens-innocence
- https://www.thesentinel.com/communities/moms-for-liberty-panel-sparks-dialogue-on-parent-involvement-in-education/article_26d9c4f6-66c5-11ee-a4d2-e7072521fea1.html
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/130287936990523/posts/27666813856244560/

[Anonymous]

Get over “mask policy”. That was 5 years ago and masks were overused

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get over “mask policy”. That was 5 years ago and masks were overused

Did you not read anything else they wrote??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get over “mask policy”. That was 5 years ago and masks were overused

Don’t be so glib. People died.

[Anonymous]

Was going to vote for her cause her website seemed normal, now I’m voting Wylea!

[Anonymous]

It looks like you feel as though you haven't gotten your message out, despite posting the same thing in every topic on BOE candidates for over 2 years, back to when she ran in 2024, so you need to have a headline of your own.

I'm not a Diaz fan, but the other candidates have flaws, as well. Lazo has shown that he is part of the MoCo/MD political machine that locks out meaningful community input. Chase has failed to demonstrate her advocacy is meaningfully multidimensional, likely part of that machine, too. Wicks effectively dropped out.

Even your post, here, is political-machine-driven -- "it should be noted that the official position of the MCPS Democratic Party opposes her" is dog whistling in what is supposed to be a non-partisan race. For BOE, it's a county primary to winnow the field to two candidates for November, not a Dem primary to pick against a Repub (destined to lose in this deep blue county). Between now and then, having someone like Diaz, warts and all, as a counter option to the machine might be more appealing than having a choice between two insiders. With Rivera-Oven (note Marco, with endorsements, on the MoCo party committee ballot) and Diggs (Wolff's hand-picked successor) each running unopposed for those respective seats, we're certain to get no change from them, and Montoya (the only one who rocks the boat, and only when there is a personal interest, it seems), Stewart & Zimmerman not up for re-election until 2028, do we really need this at-large seat occupied by more of the same? Without even putting the Apple-ballot anointee to the test?

We always can make the choice not to have her elected in November. Maybe just having her on the ballot would send a message to MCPS/the current BOE, if not the rest of the party apparatus, that they should start looking for candidates that do a better job of actually representing us.

I can only hope the Democratic party, as a whole, wakes up to that one day, because what we've gotten, for decades, now, is ineffective strategy that somehow keeps the table tilted while, amazingly befuddlingly, from the point of view of their stated aims and the significant majority we'd think should align with those, but also clearly, from electoral results over that time, providing unreasonable space for reactionaries, again and again, to gain ascendancy. SMDH...

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing this OP. In a lot of threads people just say Diaz is "crazy" and she is, but it is helpful to see exactly what she has said.

Honestly, I found her answers to the Banner's voting guide questions better in many ways than the other candidates, except for the question on banning books. I can't vote for her for the same reasons you have shared, but it is a shame because I wish someone who isn't crazy was willing to be more critical of screen use and how the Blueprint is being rolled out. At the end of the day, I feel strongly that her craziness will just undermine any efforts she makes to reduce screen time or hold MCPS accountable and she will become the Superintendent's go-to villain to blame or distract from whatever BS he decides to pull that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It looks like you feel as though you haven't gotten your message out, despite posting the same thing in every topic on BOE candidates for over 2 years, back to when she ran in 2024, so you need to have a headline of your own.

I'm not a Diaz fan, but the other candidates have flaws, as well. Lazo has shown that he is part of the MoCo/MD political machine that locks out meaningful community input. Chase has failed to demonstrate her advocacy is meaningfully multidimensional, likely part of that machine, too. Wicks effectively dropped out.

Even your post, here, is political-machine-driven -- "it should be noted that the official position of the MCPS Democratic Party opposes her" is dog whistling in what is supposed to be a non-partisan race. For BOE, it's a county primary to winnow the field to two candidates for November, not a Dem primary to pick against a Repub (destined to lose in this deep blue county). Between now and then, having someone like Diaz, warts and all, as a counter option to the machine might be more appealing than having a choice between two insiders. With Rivera-Oven (note Marco, with endorsements, on the MoCo party committee ballot) and Diggs (Wolff's hand-picked successor) each running unopposed for those respective seats, we're certain to get no change from them, and Montoya (the only one who rocks the boat, and only when there is a personal interest, it seems), Stewart & Zimmerman not up for re-election until 2028, do we really need this at-large seat occupied by more of the same? Without even putting the Apple-ballot anointee to the test?

We always can make the choice not to have her elected in November. Maybe just having her on the ballot would send a message to MCPS/the current BOE, if not the rest of the party apparatus, that they should start looking for candidates that do a better job of actually representing us.

I can only hope the Democratic party, as a whole, wakes up to that one day, because what we've gotten, for decades, now, is ineffective strategy that somehow keeps the table tilted while, amazingly befuddlingly, from the point of view of their stated aims and the significant majority we'd think should align with those, but also clearly, from electoral results over that time, providing unreasonable space for reactionaries, again and again, to gain ascendancy. SMDH...

OP here. While I agree with you that the status quo must change, the idea that candidates who in some ways uphold it are somehow on the same level as Brenda Diaz is misguided at best. You claim so casually that "The other candidates have flaws, as well", but do any of these "flaws" include aligning themselves with hate groups and vocally expressing racist and queerphobic rhetoric? The reality is that now is not the time for such abstract thinking, now is the time to ensure that someone who is cool with Moms for Liberty doesn't get elected to have a role in your child's education. You also accuse me of having posted about this subject numerous times in the past, which is false. This is my first post mentioning the topic. Probably other people have also posted about it because they also don't want a far-right extremest on the Board of Education, a desire that you seem oddly annoyed by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Between now and then, having someone like Diaz, warts and all, as a counter option to the machine might be more appealing than having a choice between two insiders.

There were people in 2016 saying this about Trump. How's that been going?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get over “mask policy”. That was 5 years ago and masks were overused

Don’t be so glib. People died.

+1. WTAF??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It looks like you feel as though you haven't gotten your message out, despite posting the same thing in every topic on BOE candidates for over 2 years, back to when she ran in 2024, so you need to have a headline of your own.

I'm not a Diaz fan, but the other candidates have flaws, as well. Lazo has shown that he is part of the MoCo/MD political machine that locks out meaningful community input. Chase has failed to demonstrate her advocacy is meaningfully multidimensional, likely part of that machine, too. Wicks effectively dropped out.

Even your post, here, is political-machine-driven -- "it should be noted that the official position of the MCPS Democratic Party opposes her" is dog whistling in what is supposed to be a non-partisan race. For BOE, it's a county primary to winnow the field to two candidates for November, not a Dem primary to pick against a Repub (destined to lose in this deep blue county). Between now and then, having someone like Diaz, warts and all, as a counter option to the machine might be more appealing than having a choice between two insiders. With Rivera-Oven (note Marco, with endorsements, on the MoCo party committee ballot) and Diggs (Wolff's hand-picked successor) each running unopposed for those respective seats, we're certain to get no change from them, and Montoya (the only one who rocks the boat, and only when there is a personal interest, it seems), Stewart & Zimmerman not up for re-election until 2028, do we really need this at-large seat occupied by more of the same? Without even putting the Apple-ballot anointee to the test?

We always can make the choice not to have her elected in November. Maybe just having her on the ballot would send a message to MCPS/the current BOE, if not the rest of the party apparatus, that they should start looking for candidates that do a better job of actually representing us.

I can only hope the Democratic party, as a whole, wakes up to that one day, because what we've gotten, for decades, now, is ineffective strategy that somehow keeps the table tilted while, amazingly befuddlingly, from the point of view of their stated aims and the significant majority we'd think should align with those, but also clearly, from electoral results over that time, providing unreasonable space for reactionaries, again and again, to gain ascendancy. SMDH...

1. This is an anonymous forum, and you have no evidence PP is the prior poster to whom you’re referring.
2. Education is inherently political. It always has been, and it always will be.
3. Are you really implying that being part of the MoCo/MD political machine and doing advocacy work that is not “meaningfully multidimensional” are equivalent to being a MAGA culture warrior? What an incredibly ill-advised and myopic take.

[Anonymous]

After reading this I am definitely voting for Diaz!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get over “mask policy”. That was 5 years ago and masks were overused

Diaz did not show up for work as a teacher - just did not show up, in order to evade the rules on masks and COVID vaccines. It left administrators scrambling to cover her classes with no notice. But hey, I guess your kid wasn't in her class, so no problem.

[Anonymous]

I voted for her as a protest vote against the current BOE's incompetence and subservience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Between now and then, having someone like Diaz, warts and all, as a counter option to the machine might be more appealing than having a choice between two insiders.

There were people in 2016 saying this about Trump. How's that been going?

Was his orangeness running for one spot out of seven where the remaining six held overwhelming majority sway in the other direction? Or was it for a position where one person could run roughshod, especially with sympathetic majorities in any body which held checks over that power?