Topeka ? Backed by evolution opponents, Jesse Hall has raised nearly three times as much as State Board of Education member Janet Waugh in the Democratic Party primary, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday.

Hall, a political newcomer, raised $12,830 this year, while Waugh raised $4,397 for the district that includes Kansas City, Kan., and extends into eastern Douglas County and Lawrence.

The State Board of Education has been divided 6-4 with the majority voting for science standards that criticize evolution, as well as making it more difficult to attend sex education classes.

Waugh is a member of the four-person minority, while Hall supports the stance of the six-member majority.

Among Hall’s contributors are John Calvert, an advocate of intelligent design who led the six-member majority to adopt the science standards, and Eric and Celtie Johnson, who are evolution opponents from Johnson County.

Meanwhile, Waugh has received support from the Kansas-National Education Assn. and Kansas Alliance for Education.

The winner of the Aug. 1 Democratic primary likely will gain a four-year term because there is no Republican candidate or minor party candidate lined up for the November general election.

In Johnson County, incumbent John Bacon of Olathe, who voted for the science standards and sex ed policy, faces two challengers, Harry McDonald and David Oliphant.

Bacon had raised $6,218 this year, including contributions from Calvert and the Johnsons, while McDonald raised $30,403 with contributions from the KNEA, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and even $500 from Barbara Atkinson, executive dean and vice chancellor of the Kansas University Medical Center.

School board races in central, southeast and western Kansas saw similar splits in support between candidates who align themselves with the majority and those who support the current minority position.

In western Kansas, Connie Morris, a Republican from St. Francis, reported raising $19,440. Morris has been a vocal critic of evolution.

The finance report of her GOP opponent, Sally Cauble of Liberal, had not arrived in the secretary of state’s office by the end of the day.