In December 2005, Judge Jones struck a blow against the Intelligent Design (ID) movement in Dover, PA (Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District). Perhaps just as important as the decision itself was the public reaction to it at the polling booth. Locals in Dover overwhelming “threw out the bums” and voted in moderate school board members who had promised to restore science to the classroom. And that they did.

Not all districts have reported in yet, but it looks like the same thing is happening in Kansas. Kansas state board members serve 2-year terms. The two conservative board members up for reelection — Connie Morris and Brad Patzer, both of whom were deeply sympathetic to the ID cause — have been kicked off the board by the sensible voters. Each will be replaced with moderate board members who have promised to restore science to Kansas classrooms. (For the very latest news, check out NCSE’s web site.)

These election results will surely lead to a reversal of the medieval decision by the board in November 2005 to adopt creationism over science. NCSE calls it a “pendulum swing” but that suggests some sort of regularity to this whole mess. I’d say it’s more accurate to call it a course correction. There’s no swinging pendulum here, just some crazy folks who once in a while grab the ship’s wheel when the captain isn’t looking. Are you paying attention Discovery Institute? As soon as regular folks find out what your stealth candidates are doing they rise up against it.