COOKEVILLE, TN — The race for Room Mom in Mrs. Dotson’s second-grade class entered its fourth runoff this week, after a third round of voting ended in a three-way tie and a formal complaint about “ballot energy.”
The three candidates, Kinsley Ashford, Sloane Pemberton, and Margaux Delacroix-Beasley, have each run professional campaigns, complete with yard signs, a platform, and at least one attack ad. Ashford is running on “Better Snacks, Better Futures.” Pemberton’s platform is “Experience Matters (I Did This in Preschool).” Delacroix-Beasley has promised a “wellness-forward classroom” and a monthly sound bath.
The race turned tense last week when an anonymous flyer claimed one candidate had once sent in store-bought Valentines. The candidate responded with a notarized statement and receipts from a stationer in Franklin.
The electorate consists of 22 families, 19 of whom have muted the class group chat. Turnout in the third runoff was reported at 110%, which election officials attributed to “grandmothers.”
Mrs. Dotson, the teacher, has repeatedly told all three candidates that the role mostly involves sending one email a month and bringing napkins to the holiday party. “Honestly, whoever wins, I just need disinfecting wipes and maybe some dry-erase markers,” she said. “The blue ones are gone. They’re all gone.”
The fourth runoff is scheduled for Friday, pending the outcome of a debate to be held in the gym and moderated by a local news anchor who owes one of the candidates a favor.