St. Lucie 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
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Troy Ingersoll
Ingersoll has served on the St. Lucie County School Board since 2006 and is currently board chairman. He owns a Pinch A Penny pool and spa store and has been pastor of Midway Road Baptist Church since 2024. He holds a criminology degree from Florida State University and a master's in Christian education from New Orlea…
Lisa Kessler
Kessler is a published author, national speaker and writing coach who worked as a sales and marketing manager for 26 years before writing full time. She chairs the Fort Pierce Arts and Culture Board and is the daughter of two career public school teachers. She led the August 2026 District 5 primary narrowly and advanc…
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 | Troy Ingersoll Nonpartisan | Lisa Kessler 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). | Strongly disagrees· stated position In his League of Women Voters VOTE411 questionnaire, Ingersoll said he opposes vouchers because diverting taxpayer money to private institutions drains resources from the public system. | Leans disagree· stated position In her VOTE411 questionnaire Kessler said she opposes vouchers as they stand because private schools do not have to meet the same testing standards, and said schools accepting public funds should be held accountable. She separately proposes district-administered homeschooling with testing accountability. |
| 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 Ingersoll says Florida is taking bold steps to protect parental rights and that a challenged book should be listed publicly and taken out of circulation while educators review it. | Mixed / neutral· stated position Kessler describes her role as ensuring the district follows Florida law and maintains age-appropriate collections, without saying whether an objection alone should be enough to remove material. |
| 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 | Leans agree· stated position Kessler names teacher retention and public school enrollment as her most critical issues and proposes creative supports for teachers such as housing, growth opportunities and more say over school assignment. She has not proposed a specific raise or named spending she would cut. |
| School safety approachCampus safety depends more on police officers and firm discipline than on counselors and mental-health staff. | Mixed / neutral· stated position Ingersoll lists safe and secure schools as his first critical issue and calls for secure campuses and positive learning environments. He did not say whether he would emphasize law enforcement and discipline or counseling and mental-health staff. | 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.
Troy IngersollLisa KesslerHow 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Troy Ingersoll | not enough data | -0.33 (3 statements) |
| Lisa Kessler | 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.
Troy Ingersoll
- Budget and public engagement — Ingersoll names fiscal responsibility and raising student achievement as critical issues, calling for transparent budgeting and consistent funding for academic programs and teacher development. He says community forums, surveys, advisory committees and open board meetings should guide decisions.
Lisa Kessler
- Board transparency — Kessler proposes 'You said, We did' podcasts, more frequent board meetings and attendance at student and district events to connect the board with the community.