MARIETTA — Democrat Alison Bartlett, who was first elected to serve central Cobb on the school board in 2008, said campaigning this go-round has been a little more difficult because her area is now mostly Republican and many voters have said they will vote a straight ticket.

The 50-year-old will be taking on first-time candidate and Republican Brad Wheeler on Nov. 6.

Bartlett beat Ron Yonker in 2008 to take her seat on the Cobb school board. She currently represents only Osborne High School, but in January the winner of the west-central Cobb seat will represent McEachern, Harrison and Hillgrove high schools because of a recent redistricting by legislators.

State legislators shifted Bartlett’s post in the spring, pushing her representation from central Cobb into west-central Cobb. The number of Republican voters in her post increased, she said.

Bartlett said people she’s talked to on the campaign trail have told her they would vote for her if she weren’t a Democrat.

“I’m also asked why I’m not a Republican … because my voting is so conservative and I’m all about local control,” she said. “The Republican and Democratic parties in Cobb County are very different in their educational approach. … The majority Democratic party is pro-education.

“It’s a problem with this nation. They don’t evaluate who they are voting for, just the party associated with it.”

Some of the other issues coming up on the trail are the charter school amendment, which Bartlett said people are just curious to learn more about, questions about the south Cobb redistricting from earlier this year and the proposed SPLOST IV that will go before voters in March 2013.

She has been very outspoken at numerous public forums and most recently at the Thursday night school board meeting about the charter school amendment, making a 15-minute speech as to why she doesn’t support it and encouraged Cobb voters to educate themselves on the issue before going to the polls.

“I’ve also been asked why I feel what I feel about the school calendar,” she said.

The board voted Thursday night to approve Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s calendar, which included an Aug. 7, 2013, start date and one-to-two day fall and winter breaks with school ending May 27, 2014. She supported that calendar.

When asked how this election is different than 2008, Bartlett said it’s harder because Wheeler, whom she’s never met, won’t agree to a public forum where both of them are in attendance.

“It makes it hard for the public to know where we stand,” she said. “If elected, my concern is that Mr. Wheeler has not been able to make a public forum so how will they have access to him once he’s in office.”

Otherwise, Bartlett said fundraising has gone well. She’s raised $3,712.89, according to her Sept. 30 campaign finance report, and has a balance of $617.66.

“It’s been easy,” she said. “I’m at about the same amount right now as in 2008. Because my name is so well-known, it’s made it easier.”