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No endorsement
The race
Saddle Mountain Unified School District voters fill three seats on November 3, 2026, in two separate races: two four-year seats (vote for up to two) and one two-year seat (vote for one).
The certified roster — four-year seats: Nicole Connot, Amy Amaral, Emilie Myth. Two-year seat: Keith Kronback, Daniel Blackson. The district also asks voters to approve a $66.5 million bond (Measure 436) and a 15% maintenance and operations override, covered in our measure coverage.
The candidates — four-year seats
Nicole Connot. A certified candidate, per the Superintendent's list. No incumbency, occupation, published platform or record for Connot was sourced in this pass.
Pros: She filed and is on the ballot. Cons: No checkable record in front of voters in our sourcing.
Amy Amaral. A certified candidate, per the Superintendent's list. No occupation, published platform or record for Amaral was sourced in this pass.
Pros: She filed and is on the ballot. Cons: No checkable record in front of voters in our sourcing.
Emilie Myth. A certified candidate, per the Superintendent's list. Per GoodParty.org's candidate listing, she has taken that organization's pledge to serve people first, independent of both major parties and big-money influence. No occupation, published platform or governing record beyond that listing was sourced in this pass.
Pros: The only candidate in this race with any public-facing commitment on record — a published independence pledge. Cons: A pledge to an aggregator is not a platform; nothing on curriculum, budgets or the district's bond and override is sourced.
The candidates — two-year seat
Keith Kronback. A certified candidate, per the Superintendent's list. No incumbency, occupation, published platform or record for Kronback was sourced in this pass.
Pros: He filed and is on the ballot. Cons: No checkable record in front of voters in our sourcing.
Daniel Blackson. A certified candidate, per the Superintendent's list. No occupation, published platform or record for Blackson was sourced in this pass. (GoodParty.org's listing of current district officeholders shows a Daniel Blackson with a term running 2023 to 2026, suggesting incumbency, but the Superintendent's certified list — which governs our rosters — does not mark incumbency, and we do not print it as fact on a compilation's say-so.)
Pros: He filed and is on the ballot; possibly an incumbent, unverified as such. Cons: No checkable record in front of voters in our sourcing.
OUR CALL
Our call: insufficient record — no endorsement. What would earn one here: a published platform or a single sourced statement from any of the five candidates — in a district simultaneously asking voters for a $66.5 million bond and an override, the board race is the accountability race, and it is currently five names and a pledge.
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
- Maricopa County School Superintendent — "November 3, 2026 School District Governing Board Certified and Write-In Candidates (as of 8/25/26)" — the certified roster for this race (county grade) — https://schoolsup.org/s/2026-Certified-Write-In-Candidates-082526.pdf
- GoodParty.org, "Saddle Mountain USD 90 School Board" candidate listing — Myth's pledge and current-officeholder terms as listed (compilation grade; incumbency not adopted from it) — https://goodparty.org/elections/az/saddle-mountain-unified-school-district/position/local-school-board
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.