Hunter seeks Caylor's place on school board

Montgomery - The words, "I will not run again," were barely out of state school board member Mary Jane Caylor's mouth when Republican Mary Scott Hunter announced she wants to take Caylor's place.

Caylor, 67, a Huntsville Democrat finishing her fourth term on the Alabama Board of Education, said Tuesday that she will not run again in 2010.

Huntsville personal injury attorney Hunter, 37, announced Tuesday morning she's in the race for the Republican nomination for the seat. Hunter's state Board of Education District 8 campaign Web site went up at the same time.

At least one other Huntsville woman, newly retired educator Mary Ruth Yates, said she's considering a run for the seat as a Democrat, but was undecided Tuesday afternoon.

Caylor briefly considered stepping down before the 2006 race but said the needs of the two-year college system made departure then seem like abandoning a sinking ship. With the state board's unanimous selection of a new chancellor for the two-year college system last week, Caylor said she can leave with a job completed.

Unlike 2006, when Caylor first said she would not run but rethought the decision within days, Tuesday she said her 2010 decision is firm.

"Political future, what political future?" Caylor quipped as she said she's through running for elective office. She listed growing responsibility as executive director of Big Spring Partners, a downtown Huntsville redevelopment organization, and a desire to travel more with husband, John, as reasons for leaving office.

"I don't think I was ever cut out of the cloth to get elected and then do nothing for my district until the next election," Caylor said Tuesday.

"I will leave content that I have done my best for my district."

Hunter lost in her first political race earlier this year when she ran for the Alabama Senate seat that Huntsville Democrat Parker Griffith left to go to the U.S. House of Representatives.

She said she supports "traditional, rigorous educational standards," expanded work force development and a search for "maintaining and enhancing educational initiatives during funding crisis."

Hunter and her husband, John Shultz, have three children.

Yates, a former interim superintendent of Huntsville City Schools, retired from the system four weeks ago. She's considering not only the state board seat but also a run for Huntsville board of education, she said.

"I want to stay very active in education, but I don't feel a pull toward one race or the other just yet," she said.

District 8 covers parts of DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, Limestone and Madison counties.

M.J. Ellington is the Montgomery bureau chief for the TimesDaily.