State Dodges ‘Education Train Wreck’ With Defeat of Mary Lou Bruner

In a stunning upset, a retired schoolteacher who believes President Barack Obama once worked as a gay prostitute lost her bid to become a member of Texas’ State Board of Education (SBOE) on Tuesday.Â

Mary Lou Bruner, who’s made national headlines for her incendiary statements and bizarre conspiracy theories, was defeated by Lufkin school board President Kevin Ellis, 59-41 percent, in the GOP primary runoff for the District 9 SBOE seat representing ultraconservative East Texas.Â

Odd sign of the times that a Texas candidate who thinks Obama is an ex-gay prostitute may lose her runoff is viewed as a surprise #tx2016 â€” Aman Batheja (@amanbatheja) May 25, 2016

Bruner was favored to win the runoff after outpacing Ellis in the March 1 primary. However, even some tea party groups withdrew their endorsements of Bruner in recent weeks, largely due to numerous inaccurate statements she made â€” and later declined to retract â€” at a forum for school superintendents.Â

â€œTexas escaped an education train wreck tonight,” the Texas Freedom Network (TFN), a progressive group that monitors the SBOE, said in a statement. “If Bruner had ultimately won election to the board, she would have instantly become the most embarrassingly uninformed and divisive member on a board that already too often puts politics ahead of making sure our kids get a sound education. We commend the majority of East Texas voters for their wisdom in this particular race.”

TFN listed some of Bruner’s most outrageous assertions: Â

That President Obama had turned to gay prostitution to fund a drug addiction

That climate change is a communist hoax designed to undermine capitalism

That Democrats had President Kennedy assassinated so that Lyndon Johnson could enact a socialist agenda

That the Affordable Care Act part of a United Nations plot to take over the United States

That the Common Core Standards for education mark a step toward Naziism

That Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush is turning over the Alamo to the United Nations

That public school pre-K programs are designed to indoctrinate children into socialism, multiculturalism, and homosexuality

In other Texas races, a candidate who once dressed as “Gay Hitler” won a GOP primary runoff for Texas House.

Could run for public office someday? Might want to avoid dressing as ‘Gay Hitler’. https://t.co/ctYRpMWc4g pic.twitter.com/3hIA62OJUJ â€” S.A. Express-News (@ExpressNews) March 30, 2016

Kyle Biedermann, whoÂ wore the costume to aÂ Saturday Night Live-themed party benefitting a local food pantry, defeated incumbent GOP state Rep. Doug Miller, 55-45 percent.Â

Texas, where dressing up as gay Hitler only helps https://t.co/Vvwn2AMO2K â€” Andrea Grimes (@andreagrimes) May 25, 2016

Meanwhile, another GOP challenger who was recently accused of being a closeted gay manÂ also defeated an incumbent state representative.Â

Briscoe Cain, 31, has denied the allegations in a mailer saying he’s “well known to those who frequent” gay nightclubs in Houston’s Montrose gayborhood. Cain, a tea partier who’s endorsed by several anti-LGBT hate groups, accused his opponent, incumbent state Rep. Wayne Smith, of being behind the mailer, but Smith denied any knowledge of it.Â

Cain defeated Smith by just 23 votes, so there’s likely to be a recount.Â

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Image:Â Mary Lou Bruner, Facebook