The legislative races got a lot of attention Tuesday night, but there were major battles over local school board seats where the so-called culture war issues began this year, sparking angry debates but also motivating many people to vote.

Residents finally got a chance to weigh in on the parental rights and gender rights issues that have shaken up these normally quiet races for school board leadership, education and child welfare.

Writer Hannah Gross joins me with the results and which side did better with voters.

Hannah, great to see you.

Thanks for joining me again.

So, wow, a lot of hotly contested races.

What can you tell me about the results?

And specifically, I'm thinking about Monmouth County, an area we covered a lot because of the attorney general's lawsuit there.

Yeah.

Thank you so much for having me, Bri.

Parental rights have definitely been a hot button issue in Monmouth County when it comes to the school board races.

But in these three districts that are facing lawsuits from the attorney general, they really saw mixed results.

So in Middletown, one of those districts, the three candidates that won, they were supporters of parental rights.

In Marlboro, it was the opposite.

All of the parental rights candidates lost.

And then in Manalapan, you saw a mixed two parental rights candidates won their races.

When you're looking at the unofficial results, without all of the mail in ballots.

So we went into this and the sides were sort of pitted against one another.

And it sounds like at least if we use Monmouth County as a litmus test, neither one won out.

Again, just looking at that area.

Yeah, in those towns it was really mixed in some other Monmouth County towns.

It looks like the parental rights candidates might have performed a little bit better than their opponents.

If you take a look at districts like Colts Neck, Howell and Holmdel, where they moved to get rid of Policy 5756, which includes protections for transgender students and make sure that their parents aren't notified of a change in gender without their consent.

Districts that have gotten rid of those policies.

Parental rights candidates seemed to fare well there in Monmouth County, at least.

Okay, Now, I know on Election Day when you were with me, you had just gotten back from the northwestern part of the state, Roxbury, Sparta.

Different story there.

Or still a mixed bag.

Still a mixed bag.

So in Sparta, the candidates that were supporting parental rights, they lost the election.

But in Roxbury, those candidates won.

And in those districts, you've also seen some book bans recently which do not have widespread support in New Jersey.

And you've also seen the removal of policy, 5756.

So a little bit more contentious there because of that.

I mean, you were talking to voters.

Was it the reason that they came out to vote or was it a big part of it?

Yeah.

So in my conversations with voters, they told me they came out because of the schools, because of education.

They didn't really name parental rights specifically.

They said they just cared about the schools.

And people fall on either side of that issue, whether they supported parental rights or they opposed it.

They just want good schools for their kids.

What was the reaction and I'm curious if you spoke with any of the lawyers from the districts and how they took this or whether they plan to wage another battle going forward?

Yeah, So I haven't spoken to the lawyers from the districts, but what I'm hearing from some of the advocates of parental rights, they plan to keep pushing this.

They say they have seen mixed results the same way that we're seeing it here.

And they're saying that in some of these districts where their parental rights candidates lost, they might have thought they were smooth sailing because they won so easily in the last election and they weren't pushing as hard.

So should we expect, based off of the voters you spoke with, the folks in these districts, that this is going to be the way moving forward, that these school board races are going to continue to be very politicized and very hotly contested?

I think school board races are becoming increasingly political, and I think that's probably a trend that will continue.

And while parental rights might not have widespread support, it seems like the advocates for it are not going to give up on it easily and will just keep pushing on that issue.

All right, Hannah Gross, our education and child welfare reporter.

Hannah, thanks so much.

Thanks for having me.