Republican committee members did not nominate the president of the Butler Area School District board at their meeting Monday night for a vacant spot on the November ballot.

Instead, Tom Harrison, former news editor for the Butler Eagle, will appear on Republican ballots. He was nominated by Bill Halle, a committee member and school director who occasionally squabbles with President Nina Teff over school district business.

In May, Teff narrowly missed primary nominations on both parties' ballots. Suzie Bradrick, another board member who beat out Teff by just eight votes in the primary election, withdrew from the ballot Aug. 9, according to election bureau records.

Bradrick's withdrawal means December will bring the end of her term on the board. She made the choice, she said, in an effort to preserve Teff's leadership.

“My hope is that the party will replace my name with our current board president, Nina Teff,” Bradrick said at Monday night's school board meeting. “She was the next vote getter on both ballots. While I loved being able to contribute to my community as a board member, Nina's contributions greatly outweigh mine.”

Both Teff and Halle were not present at Monday night's school board meeting.

Instead, they were at a Republican committee meeting seeing who would be appointed to fill Bradrick's spot on the ballot.

Both Teff and Harrison were nominated for the vacant spot. Harrison won 14-6. Republican committee members within the school district's precincts voted.

“I've had a vision for the district since before I moved here in 2013,” Harrison said. “People who read my editorials over the years know where I stand.”

In a phone interview after the vote, Teff was clear: She has no bad feelings toward Harrison.“Tom and I have a great deal of respect for each other,” Teff said. “We had a great working relationship while he was at the Eagle.”However, she does think Halle made a sly political move. Teff said Halle spent his entire nomination speech for Harrison berating her instead of praising Harrison.Halle said he was simply reflecting the will of the common electorate, which didn't nominate Teff.“How can a small group of people overturn who the people in the community voted for?” Halle said.Halle referenced a likely source for the division between himself and other school directors.Back in primary election season, the school board had discussions with its solicitor about the legality of school board members blocking people on Facebook, preventing them from seeing their posts about official business.Halle and the board's vice president, Jennifer Cummings, were at odds over Halle blocking her husband on Facebook, among other social media arguments.Halle said Teff accused him of breaking the law in such a manner not out of concern for transparency, but for political reasons.“It was dirty politics, and I'm done with dirty politics,” Halle said.Teff, on the other hand, feels it's she who has seen the nasty side of election season.“If, in the end, political maneuvering is what wins, it's disappointing,” Teff said.Bradrick cross-filed in the primary and has also withdrawn from the Democratic ticket, but it appears unlikely that anyone will replace her. Teff is not eligible, as she's a registered Republican and does not want to switch parties.Catherine LaLonde, chairwoman of the Butler County Democrats, said Monday night that her party had no plans to nominate anyone else.

Tom Harrison

Nina Teff