Part campaign rally, part family reunion, a kickoff for the re-election of three Jefferson County school board members this week brought together many who had fought the recall wars in 2015 as well as set the path for the upcoming November election.

The three board members – Susan Harmon, Ron Mitchell and Brad Rupert – won their seats after a recall of three conservative education reformers two years ago. Five board members were elected in 2015, but the three who won the seats in the recall must run for full four-year terms this year.

The deadline for candidates to file petitions for the election is Sept. 1, just over three weeks from now. To date, only the three incumbents have filed. But Mitchell and others at Tuesday night’s kickoff rally believe the opposition is coming.

In 2015, in a first-ever recall election for Jefferson County, three board members lost their seats in a contentious battle for control of the five-member school board in the state’s second-largest school district.

The recall was launched by parents, teachers and community supporters in 2014, following less than a year of often combative school board meetings and controversies outside the boardroom. Recall backers cited the departure of the long-time superintendent; hiring a new superintendent from Douglas County, a bastion of conservative education reform; lack of transparency by the board majority in major decisions, and attempts to seek changes to an advanced placement history course that led to student and teacher walkouts at several Jefferson County high schools.

Reminders of the recall dotted the room at the Wheat Ridge Recreation Center Tuesday night. Supporters wore blue T-shirts with #standup4kids, the rallying cry for the 2015 recall.

The event was emceed by U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Arvada, and former state Sen. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, who backs all three incumbents and who are running together as they did in 2015. “It’s a slate. Don’t forget that,” Perlmutter told the audience of about 200.

Perlmutter was greeted like a conquering hero by the largely Democratic crowd that included more than four dozen current elected officials and candidates for office in statewide and county races, most for 2018.

Perlmutter is stepping down from Congress next year, and last month announced he would end a bid for the Democratic nominee for governor, stating he no longer had the “fire in his belly” for the race. Also in last night’s audience: new JeffCo Superintendent Jason Glass. He didn’t address the crowd, but later told this reporter he would attend events for any other school board candidates who choose to run this year.

Mitchell said that if history is any indication, those who would challenge the incumbents probably won’t file until right before the deadline. He pointed out that a candidate could obtain petitions from the school district on Aug. 30, obtain the necessary signatures the next day and submit petitions to the county on Sept. 1.

The reason for the late start: to make those who will back the incumbents complacent.

Supporter Jonna Levine of Arvada said those who don’t pay attention won’t write checks or volunteer for campaigns if they assume there will be no challengers. Once those challengers file for the election, it may be too late for backers of the incumbents to gear up, she said.

“I believe candidate and their backers, like Americans for Prosperity, will show up,” Mitchell said. “We’re planning like there will be (opposing) candidates.”