Two decades ago, Dover showed how to win elections in conservative towns. They’re still fighting

It’s been 21 years since the First Amendment test case of Kitzmiller v. Dover, in which U.S. District Court judge John E. Jones III ruled that “intelligent design,” a form of revamped creationism, is unconstitutional to teach in the public schools.

While the parents who sued and science teachers celebrated, the school board members and their legal team had little to say. Looking back, most people involved in the trial said that few minds were changed. Many were just glad the national spotlight was no longer shining on Dover.

But roots run deep in south-central Pennsylvania, and history repeats itself. Some on the religious right quietly started preparing for the next opportunity.

Randall Wenger, an attorney with connections to the trial, analyzed the mistakes made by the Dover school board and set about laying out a future strategy. Wenger had unsuccessfully tried to intervene in Kitzmiller on behalf of the Foundation of Thought and Ethics, the publisher of the creationist-turned-“intelligent design” textbook Of Pandas and People.

At a 2005 conference hosted by the Pennsylvania Family Institute (the state affiliate of the Christian Nationalist organization Family Research Council), Wenger told pastors that Dover might not have lost its case if school board members hadn’t talked publicly about their religious motivations.

“Give us a call before you do something controversial like that,” Wenger said. He then added, “I think we need to do a better job at being clever as serpents.” (2)

A year later, Wenger started the Independence Law Center, the pro-bono legal arm of the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

Wenger wasn’t wrong. Despite their attempts to deny the public record, Dover board members were exposed during the trial as lying about why they wanted “intelligent design” inserted into the biology curriculum — which was to get God into science class.

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I covered the Kitzmiller trial as the local education reporter for the York Daily Record. Today, I am an advocacy coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the union representing 178,000 education professionals.

As a journalist and as a union organizer providing support to pro-public education campaigns, I have spent many years following school board races in south-central Pennsylvania.

Religious agendas by local school boards had quieted down after Judge Jones’s ruling, but they never went away. Like cicadas, it seemed they had gone underground.

In 2021, something happened that reminded me of the lead up to Kitzmiller.

In the midst of the pandemic, school board meetings across the country became packed shouting events, spurred on by Moms for Liberty. The group frames itself as a parental-rights organization, but in reality, it exists to sow distrust of public education and is funded by school privatization sources and Christian Nationalists.

While Moms for Liberty was not unique to south-central Pennsylvania, the response here was intense with active chapters and a large angry presence in practically every school district.

In coordinated attacks, parents challenged everything from masking requirements, vaccinations, library books on topics of diversity, and history curriculum.

The attacks weren’t directly about science education, but I recognized the playbook. Targeting the teaching of evolution and climate change under the guise of parental rights was not far away.

In the 2023 elections, more than two thirds of Moms for Liberty’s endorsed school board candidates lost nationally. But in the suburban and rural districts of south-central Pennsylvania, the religious right took control of many boards. These new members pushed an almost identical agenda of book bans, classroom library restrictions, and anti-transgender bathroom, pronouns and sports policies.

Wenger’s Independence Law Center (ILC) happened to be ready with sample-language policies on those subjects.

In Dover, five newcomers with the conservative Christian Dover ABC political action committee swept the election with staunch support from a local church. In one of their first acts, they convinced the board to sign a contract with ILC to represent it pro bono in lawsuits that might arise from such policies. (5)

In an interview at the time, Judge Jones (by then retired from the bench) said, “These law firms, such as Mr. Wenger’s, are looking for test cases to see if they can push that envelope a little bit further. There have been people who say, for example, this opens the door to getting prayer back in schools. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but you can see the drift.”

Nine other school boards in south central Pennsylvania signed ILC pro-bono contracts. At least five other boards unofficially consulted with them.

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ILC was using the same strategy as the Thomas More Law Center when it shopped for an “intelligent design” test case, promising the Dover board that they would represent the district for free.

Thomas More’s lawyer told Dover board members that they were “leading a revolution in evolution” and were going to take “intelligent design” all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

After losing the lawsuit, Dover taxpayers were saddled with a $1 million bill for the plaintiffs’ fees and expenses. The bill would have been higher, but the plaintiffs’ legal team took into consideration the cost to taxpayers.

Jones’ blistering decision was not the only blow to intelligent design. The trial took place in an election year. Eight of the nine pro-”intelligent design” board members were on the ballot. Eight pro-public education and pro-science candidates also ran as a slate. A month before Jones issued his decision on December 20, 2025, the eight pro-science candidates swept the race. Because the incoming board supported the decision, there would be no appeal.

Barrie Callahan, one of the 11 plaintiffs, gave me what has always been my favorite Kitzmiller quote. She said she found the irony delicious.

“The revolution in evolution was thwarted by the democratic process,” she said.

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After the 2023 school board takeovers, members immediately started firing district solicitors and considering adopting policies written by ILC.

Many residents were outraged by agendas that they felt were harmful to students and education. But they struggled to fight back in their conservative red districts. Some looked back at Kitzmiller to see if it could be replicated.

Litigation was a riskier proposition than two decades ago, considering the U.S. Supreme Court’s entrenched conservative majority with Christian Nationalist leanings. There would be no Kitzmiller redux.

But while lawsuits weren’t an option, Kitzmiller showed them that policies can be overturned with a new school board.

In the Central York school district next to Dover, where Trump won by 15 points in 2024, conservative Christian board members banned hundreds of books and racial justice resources from the classroom. The banned list included a Sesame Street episode featuring Big Bird, an Oscar-nominated documentary about James Baldwin, and a picture book by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

After the local newspaper wrote about the ban, the story blew up and garnered national attention. A student group, the Panthers Anti-Racist Union, organized rallies and gave interviews to the national press.

Citizens for Central York PAC, formed by a coalition of concerned residents and teachers, put forth a slate of candidates to challenge the conservative incumbents. Rather than just focusing on the book ban, they campaigned on positive messages about restoring professionalism and evidence-based policies.

The ban’s negative attention was so great that board members revoked the ban before the election. But the challengers didn’t take their foot off the gas. Candidates and volunteers knocked on doors, raised money for advertising and mailers, and focused on getting out their messaging through social and earned media.

Three of the four candidates won. Two years later, the campaign team capitalized on their experience and their five candidates swept the race.

As with Dover, the national attention helped residents become aware of what was happening in their school district. Many thought the board had gone too far.

But it was the ground game that prevailed. Mike Mountz, a teacher and the campaign’s volunteer communication director, said they demonstrated it is possible to win school board races in highly conservative districts.

“School board elections typically suffer from low voter turnout. That means you can win, even in an unfavorable district, by selectively mobilizing the voters who already agree with your cause,” he said. “It isn’t about convincing people ‘for whom’ to vote — it’s about convincing them ‘to’ vote.”

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Following similar strategies in 2025, pro-public education candidates took back control of their boards in eight districts in south central Pennsylania. In four, they made up ground. Not every campaign was successful, but many of them narrowed the voting gap.

One lesson that Kitzmiller taught us is that even in the most conservative areas, there are like-minded citizens. One-on-one conversations with people in the community remain vital to winning an election, as do building coalitions and seeking support from unions and other organizations.

Rob Eshbach, a young Dover science teacher in 2005, remembers the creationist board taking control to push its religious agenda. He sees this cycle repeating itself.

“Nothing ever changes until it gets so bad that people start paying attention,” said Eshbach, who is still a science teacher and union leader.

The fight continues in Dover. Despite a strong canvassing campaign, the Citizens for Dover Schools PAC was unable to take back the board. They have lined up candidates for 2027.

They are making strides. In October, board members objected to the Advanced Placement History textbook, calling it “un-American.” Amid public outcry, a majority of the board backed down and the book remained.

Despite “intelligent design”’s defeat, there are its supporters who have not forgotten the famous trial and who believe these cases will give them another bite at the apple to force creationism in schools.

Kara Hetrick, a Dover parent and one of the founders of Citizens for Dover Schools, remembers being approached after a meeting by a pastor aligned with the board. He wanted to argue the past, saying that Judge Jones was wrong about “intelligent design” being a religious concept.

“I didn’t realize just how entwined some of Dover’s churches are in local politics until I started attending board meetings,” Hetrick said. “So then to read about Kitzmiller and what happened, it really wasn’t that surprising. There is still so much ‘religious’ political interference. They were basically Christian Nationalists then, before we knew what Christian Nationalists were.”