As an out-of-towner, I find this to be puzzling. You don't want your mascot to be in any controversy.
Here in Wisconsin, many teachers unions run their own candidate(s) for the local school boards. In Milwaukee, they have a majority on the School Board and obstruct every Milwaukee School Superintendent who tries to reform anything (which I think is odd, but they get terrific benefits and pay for a system that averages a C- for a grade). The teachers are on both sides of the negotiating table.
The state teachers union also runs their own candidate for the Department of Public Instruction, the people who oversee all school names, mascots (no Indians!) and curriculums. (A few years ago, the DPI threatened to totally defund a public school who had Warriors as their mascot. Nobody bothered to check that it was a Knight in armor instead of an Indian, but that is Madison in a nutshell.) Now the head of DPI is running against the Governor of the last 8 years. The state teachers union doesn't understand why they get flack for their multi million dollar fundraising and endorsements. That seems sort of normal to me, except for the huge amount of money they have, but running your own candidate for governor does seem a little "over the top" as the English say. The Wisconsin police and firefighters don't do any of that.
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