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Endorses Densmore

The race

Dysart Unified School District voters elect two members to four-year terms on November 3, 2026. Vote for up to two. Three candidates are running, including one incumbent.

The certified roster is: Dawn Densmore (incumbent), Lisa Everett, and William Coniam. The district also asks voters to approve a $71 million bond, covered in our measure coverage.

The candidates

Dawn Densmore (incumbent). Densmore was first elected in 2019 and re-elected in 2022, as reported by The Arizona Republic. Her board record, as reported there: in 2024 she joined the rest of the board in approving a resolution opposing the Biden administration's rules expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students; she supported the district severing ties with the Arizona School Boards Association; and Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs has credited her with demanding medical freedom from forced vaccines and masks for students and staff and with working to add school safety officers to Dysart schools. She has campaigned with Lisa Everett and spoke at a Club America (Turning Point student club) event, per the Republic.

Pros: The clearest sourced record in this race — actual board actions on federal overreach, the state association, medical freedom and school safety officers, all in line with parental-rights, local-control values. Cons: A polarizing record by design; voters who want a quieter board will read the same facts the other way.

Lisa Everett. Everett has lived in the area seven years and previously chaired the Legislative District 29 Republican Committee, as reported by The Arizona Republic. The committee censured her in 2025, accusing her of partnering with a left-wing protest organizer and of using committee funds for a private court case — accusations she campaigns alongside Densmore despite. Her published priorities, per her campaign website as reported by the Republic: early intervention for literacy and math proficiency, teacher retention, and keeping administrative costs low so more money reaches the classroom. She writes that she is not running to advance a political agenda.

Pros: A published platform with the right fiduciary instinct — administrative costs down, classroom dollars up — plus early-intervention and retention specifics. Cons: The 2025 censure by her own former committee is a documented complication, and she is unproven in elected education office.

William Coniam. Coniam has lived in Surprise 17 years, has two daughters in the district, has volunteered in the PTA and the superintendent's parent council, is a Marine Corps veteran and a private-sector risk-management executive, and serves on the Board of Trustees for Surprise, as reported by The Arizona Republic. His priorities: expanding career and technical education through West-MEC, supporting school resource officers, and ensuring taxpayer dollars reach the classroom instead of administration.

Pros: A serious résumé — veteran, risk-management executive, trustee — and priorities (CTE, resource officers, classroom-first dollars) that match ours. Cons: No education-governing record; his platform overlaps the incumbents' without their board history behind it.

OUR CALL

Our call: Vote for up to two — we endorse Dawn Densmore and Lisa Everett. The basis for Densmore is her documented board record: the 2024 resolution against the federal Title IX expansion, severing the Arizona School Boards Association tie, and the push for safety officers and medical freedom — proven in service, not promised. The basis for Everett is her published platform — early intervention on literacy and math, teacher retention, administrative costs cut so dollars reach classrooms — campaigned as a slate with the incumbent whose record matches it. Coniam is a credible third option on paper; unproven is not a demerit, but two sourced records beat one résumé.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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