'Biblical Values' Cox Signals School Board Run
Mark Anthony Cox, who ran for Anchorage School Board last year, has just signaled he's making another run and has filed a letter of intent in August with APOC.
Cox was primarily seen as a humble and soft-spoken young man at the school board candidate forums during the last election cycle but has recently begun positioning himself as another right-wing candidate set to run on a 'biblical values' platform that opposes mandated masks/vaccines for school children, critical race theory, and equality.
However, Cox hasn't exactly been accepted by ultra-conservatives into the fold, and it's not clear how his school board candidacy will be received by those who have accused him of contributing to the loss of Judy Eledge, who was defeated in April by Dr. Kelly Lessens. Responding to criticism on Facebook, which blamed him for Eledge's loss, Cox wrote that he was willing to work with individuals who "stand on the biblical values the country was founded on" and suggested any allegation that he contributed to Eledge's loss was a misinterpretation of last year's school board race.
In a little-known Alaska Watchman questionnaire presented to Cox and other ultra-conservative candidates Judy Eledge, Nial Williams, and Sami Graham this past March — Cox was asked whether he supported ASD's policy of allowing students to use bathrooms synonymous with their gender identity. Cox told readers that he did not support the policy citing without data an "increased chance for sexual violence crimes on school grounds," suggesting that "gender-fluid" students should be banished to their own "single-stall bathrooms," a policy move Cox said at the time was "wise."
Cox's willingness to even participate in the Alaska Watchman questionnaire is likely to be scrutinized, especially when one considers his responses to a March Anchorage Daily News questionnaire that did not mention his personal religious beliefs and how they might influence his decision-making on the school board.
Cox's anti-LGBTQ responses are likely fueled by "biblical values," which he says on his Facebook candidate page will be used as a "filter/lens to make, support, or deny policies that are not moral or ethical and therefore not beneficial to the foundation this nation stands on under God," because clearly what Anchorage's educational institutions need is another religious overlord serving in a position of authority.
Cox has also begun pandering to supporters of current school board member Dave Donley attempting to drum up ultra-conservative support for his school board run.
"All Dave Donley needs is another person to share his views on the Anchorage School Board, and then we can get some much-needed work done," Cox wrote in August, clearly telegraphing to readers that his views aligned with those of Donley's who opposed ASD's universal masking policy. The Anchorage School District's masking policy, in addition to those vaccinated against COVID-19, are likely the reasons the district isn't struggling with school closures, as is the current case with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.
On August 12, Cox wrote on his candidate page that he agreed with 'mask choice,' stating that it was "effective." When asked directly about his 'mask choice' position by an Anchorage voter, Cox responded by writing that parents had previously mentioned "good points" as to why mask mandates were "detrimental" to children. Social media provocateur Judy Eledge appeared in Cox's Facebook thread, writing, "no research to support masks for children. None."
If all of that wasn't bad enough, Cox recently responded to questions on Assembly member Jamie Allard's Facebook page about his stance on critical race theory, writing that CRT was a dangerous lie.
Faced with distrust from conservatives who blame Cox for Eledge's loss in April, in addition to parents and ASD staff who will most certainly take issue with Cox's non-science-based personal opinion on mandated mask-wearing, his subjective opinion on equality and his belief that critical race theory is a dangerous lie — it's not clear how much support Cox could garner for a school board run — but as we know, we are indeed living in strange and concerning times.
