Hernando County School Board, District 5
School board members set the district budget and school-tax rate, hire the superintendent (where appointed), approve school boundaries, curriculum policy and construction, and set district policies. Nonpartisan. Term: 4 years.
Partly verified. Either the November opponent could not be confirmed from available sources, or only a few positions are documented. Confirm the full candidate list on your county sample ballot; unknown positions are shown as such.
How we verified who is on the ballot
Candidate list taken from the Florida Division of Elections, 2026 general election candidate list on 2026-09-18 ; both candidates are marked Qualified, which for a nonpartisan seat means the August vote did not produce a majority winner (or the seat is decided only in November). Check the county Supervisor of Elections sample ballot.
Candidates
Report an error ↗Kara Champion
Kara Champion, 28, is a 2020 University of Central Florida graduate whose primary income comes from her family's business, American Gun & Pawn. She is the daughter of Hernando County Commissioner Steve Champion, has a stepdaughter in Hernando County schools and a young son. She finished the August 2026 primary three v…
Susan Duval
Susan Duval, 79, began teaching in Hernando County schools in 1969 and served 11 years as principal of Springstead High School before retiring. She was first elected to the District 5 school board seat in 2014 and is seeking a fourth term. She trailed challenger Kara Champion by three votes in the August 2026 primary.
Side-by-side on the major issues
Each row is a statement. The chips show how each candidate's stated positions or record relate to that statement. Expand a row to read the evidence and sources. "No public position found" means we could not find a statement or record on the topic, not that the candidate has none.
| Issue | Kara Champion Nonpartisan | Susan Duval Nonpartisan |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Property taxesFlorida should eliminate or sharply reduce homestead property taxes, even if local governments must cut services or find other revenue. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | Mixed / neutral· stated position Champion says she supports parental choice but has also called for stronger oversight of the state's voucher programs, and wants the district to ask charter and private schools why families are enrolling there. | Leans disagree· based on record On May 26, 2026, Duval cast the lone vote against each of three charter school applications (two You Thrive academies and a Pineapple Cove Classical Academy replication), which the board approved 4-1. She said the state was effectively forcing districts to approve them, while other members said they welcomed charter competition. |
| Gender identity lawsFlorida's laws restricting gender-affirming care for minors and classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity should remain in place. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Library and classroom materialsParents' objections should be enough to pull a book or lesson from a school, even when other families want it kept. | Leans agree· stated position Asked about library and curriculum material, Champion said inappropriate material is being addressed by the board's more recent members, and that children should have books that inspire creativity but are appropriate for their age. | Leans disagree· stated position Asked about the book and curriculum controversy, Duval said it reflected 'self promoting politics' and that the board handled every concern under its existing review policies. (In May 2023 she voted with a unanimous board to remove one challenged book while noting the review committee had found it appropriate.) |
| Teacher and staff payRaising teacher and staff pay should be the district's top budget priority, even if other spending has to be cut. | No public position found | No public position found |
| School safety approachCampus safety depends more on police officers and firm discipline than on counselors and mental-health staff. | Leans agree· stated position Champion campaigns on stronger classroom discipline along with a return to reading, writing, mathematics and civics. | No public position found |
Where they sit on the map
Each candidate is placed by the average of their documented stances. It is a summary of the table above, not an extra judgment.
Susan DuvalHow the axes are computed
Each axis is the average of a candidate's coded stances (+2 to −2) on a fixed set of statements, so it comes straight from the documented positions and nothing else. A candidate needs at least three documented statements on an axis to be placed.
Economic issues (toward "Smaller government (lower taxes, less spending)"): Taxes & spending (agree), Property taxes (agree), Health care (disagree), Housing affordability (disagree), Property insurance (disagree), Energy & utilities (disagree), Social Security & Medicare (disagree), Teacher and staff pay (disagree).
Social & legal issues (toward "Conservative side of the statements"): Immigration (agree), Abortion (disagree), Guns (disagree), Education & school choice (agree), Elections & voting (disagree), Crime & policing (agree), Gender identity laws (agree), Marijuana (disagree), Environment & water (disagree), Trump administration (agree), Library and classroom materials (agree), School safety approach (agree).
| Candidate | Economic issues | Social & legal issues |
|---|---|---|
| Kara Champion | not enough data | 0.67 (3 statements) |
| Susan Duval | not enough data | not enough data |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Kara Champion
- Parental involvement and transparency — Champion campaigns on parents having a stronger voice in their children's education and on district transparency. She posted on her campaign Facebook page: 'We all want high-quality education for our children. We don't want indoctrination or politics.'
Susan Duval
- Competing with charter and private schools — Duval says the district needs to do a better job of marketing itself because public schools are 'not the only option in town anymore,' and describes her role as representing every student: 'As a board member, we're looking out for all students, not some of them. All of them.'