The same conservative Christian political action committee whose 2022 endorsements produced a conservative majority on the Temecula Valley Unified School District board has picked three candidates for the Tuesday, Nov. 3, election.
The Inland Empire Family PAC is backing incumbent board President Joseph Komrosky in Area 4, Ronda Bowen in Area 3 and Brian Emmert in Area 2, the Press Enterprise reported. Bowen is seeking the seat being vacated by Jen Wiersma, who announced Sept. 4 she would not seek reelection. Emmert is challenging incumbent Emil Barham.
The PAC, led by Pastor Tim Thompson of 412 Church Temecula Valley, reported raising more than $53,000 between Jan. 1 and Sept. 19, 2026, according to campaign finance records. That's down from more than $141,000 raised in 2024 and more than $208,000 in 2022.
"To me, it's about securing parental rights and protecting children from radical sexual indoctrination," Thompson told the Press Enterprise. "If (candidates) commit to doing those two things, we're going to get behind them."
The PAC vets candidates through background checks and interviews, and hires a political consultant to monitor campaigns, according to Thompson.
What happened after 2022
The stakes are familiar to Temecula families. In 2022, the PAC endorsed seven school board candidates across the region. Five won, including three TVUSD trustees: Danny Gonzalez, Komrosky and Wiersma.
On their first night in office in December 2022, the new majority banned critical race theory. That ban has since been ruled unconstitutional. The board also attempted to restrict curriculum referencing LGBTQ+ civil rights leader Harvey Milk, backing down after Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to fine the district. A flag ban and a parent notification policy were both rescinded in 2024 after a state agency's ruling.
Jeff Pack, co-founder of the opposing One Temecula Valley PAC, estimated the conservative majority's actions have cost the district more than $3 million in legal expenses. That figure has not been independently verified.
Gonzalez resigned from the board in 2023 and moved to Texas. Wiersma is endorsing the same three candidates the PAC picked: Komrosky, Bowen and Emmert.
The candidates
Komrosky, 53, is a tenured philosophy professor and Army veteran who has served as board president three times. He was recalled in June 2024 but won his seat back five months later. In a Press Enterprise questionnaire, Komrosky listed academic excellence, student safety, fiscal accountability and empowering parents as his priorities.
Bowen faces teacher Karen Poznanski in Area 3. Thompson praised Bowen and Emmert for not being "instigators," saying they "bring a good amount of wisdom and experience."
Little public information is available about Bowen's and Emmert's backgrounds beyond their PAC endorsements.
Board turmoil continues
The election comes amid fresh turmoil on the board.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Office confirmed it is investigating an accusation that Trustee Melinda Anderson placed what appeared to be a recording device under the desk of trustees Barham and Steven Schwartz at the Sept. 22 board meeting, the Riverside Record reported. Anderson, elected in 2024, posted a video saying she intended to step down but said it was not a formal resignation.
Marcia Godwin, a professor of public administration at the University of La Verne, said school board campaigns "usually are not overtly partisan" and that high-turnout elections tend to attract voters who weigh incumbency, name recognition and occupation.
The PAC's full 2026 slate spans eight candidates across Temecula, Murrieta, Perris, Hemet, Lake Elsinore and Redlands school board races. All three TVUSD seats on the Nov. 3 ballot are held by Barham, Wiersma and Komrosky.
