JulieMarie Shepherd
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
JulieMarie Shepherd was an at-large member of the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education in Colorado. She was first elected to the board in 2009. Shepherd won re-election against four other candidates to one of four available seats on November 5, 2013. She did not run for re-election in 2017 when her term ended.
Shepherd was a 2014 Republican candidate for District 40 of the Colorado House of Representatives.
Biography
Shepherd earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Colorado. She later earned a Ph.D. in political science from the same school with an emphasis in K-12 school governance. Her professional experience includes working as a researcher with the Colorado Department of Education. She has also taught public policy at the University of Colorado. Shepherd has been a volunteer of Guide Dogs for the Blind and is a founding member of the City of Aurora Youth Commission.[1]
Campaign themes
2013
Shepherd explained her reasons for running in 2013 on his campaign website:[2]
Accelerate student achievement
|
Accelerating student achievement and closing our achievement gaps is my number one priority. As a Board, we do this by setting clear, but realistic goals and holding the Superintendent accountable. We must also make sure that everyone involved has the needed resources and supports to be successful. Sometimes, we may fall short of our goals. When this happens, as a Board, we must have the difficult conversation to identify why this occurred and how we can continue to move forward toward success. It is also critical to regularly evaluate district programs and initiatives to ensure that they are support student learning. |
Govern effectively
|
Having served on the Board for four years and as President for the last year, I have a clear understanding of what my role is as a Board member. I also know how to collaborate and most effectively leverage that role to affect positive outcomes for our students and staff in the district. Two of the primary responsibilities of the Board of Education are 1--to serve as the representative link between the Aurora community and the school district and 2--to set policy that reflects the Board's values and priorities (as informed by the community) and hold the superintendent accountable. |
Advocate for teachers and staff
|
As a graduate of Aurora Public Schools, I know first-hand the passion and excellence our educators and staff bring into our classrooms and buildings each and every day. As the local policy makers, the Board must listen to and advocate for our teachers and staff. With the weight of state and federal mandates bearing down on local school districts, the Board must help ensure that our teachers and staff have the supports and resources to implement new programs or meet new requirements. By supporting teachers and staff, we are supporting students. |
Engage parents, families and the community
|
The Board is the link to the community, and the community must be engaged in the decision-making process. It is key that staff from all employee groups, families, students and community partners are brought into the conversation. These stakeholders should have the opportunity to be informed, ask questions and provide feedback. The district is doing excellent work to engage parents and families and we must continue to expand this work. As a Board and as a community, we need to come together to identify the most effective strategies for engaging parents and families from all parts of the APS community. There are parents and families who may have not traditionally been as active in their students' schooling due to any number of barriers from language to work-schedules. Yet, there is room to engage these families too and involve them in the conversation about Aurora Public Schools. |
Note: The above quote is from the candidate's website, which may include some typographical or spelling errors.
Elections
2014
Elections for the Colorado House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 24, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 31, 2014. Incumbent John Buckner was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while JulieMarie A. Shepherd was unopposed in the Republican primary. Buckner defeated Shepherd and Geoff Hierholz (L) in the general election.[3][4][5][6]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  John Buckner Incumbent |
51.3% | 13,815 | |
| Republican | JulieMarie A. Shepherd | 43.8% | 11,802 | |
| Libertarian | Geoff Hierholz | 4.9% | 1,318 | |
| Total Votes | 26,935 | |||
2013
- See also: Aurora Public Schools elections (2013)
Shepherd sought re-election to the board against Jasper Armstrong, Amber Drevon, Eric Nelson and Barbara Yamrick on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Aurora Public Schools Board of Education, At-large, November 5, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | JulieMarie Shepherd Incumbent |
22.5% | 16,466 | |
| Nonpartisan | Eric Nelson |
20.6% | 15,065 | |
| Nonpartisan | Amber Drevon |
19.5% | 14,283 | |
| Nonpartisan | Barbara Yamrick |
18.9% | 13,826 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jasper Armstrong | 18.6% | 13,614 | |
| Total Votes | 73,254 | |||
| Source: Adams County Elections, "2013 Coordinated Election," November 27, 2013, Arapahoe County Elections, "2013 Coordinated Election," November 22, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Shepherd began the race with an existing account balance of $135.56 from her previous campaign. She reported $2,931.00 in contributions and $2,330.57 in expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State, which left her campaign with $735.99 on hand.[7]
Endorsements
2014
In 2014, Shepherd's endorsements included the following:[8]
- Aurora's Former First Lady Kate Tauer
- Aurora Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Bob Roth
- Assistant House Minority Leader Libby Szabo
- State Representative Kathleen Conti
- State Representative Brian DelGrosso
- State Representative Bob Rankin
- State Representative Libby Szabo
2013
Shepherd received the following endorsements for her 2013 campaign:[9]
- Aurora Education Association
- John Britz, The Joshua School
- Matt Cook, APS Board of Education and Colorado Association of School Boards
- Marilyn Decalo, Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
- Ryan Frazier, Former Aurora City Councilman
- Kevin Hougen, Aurora Chamber of Commerce
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "JulieMarie + Shepherd + Aurora + Public + Schools"
See also
- Colorado
- Aurora Public Schools, Colorado
- Aurora Public Schools elections (2013)
- Colorado House of Representatives
- Colorado House of Representatives District 40
- Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2014
- Colorado State Legislature
External links
- District page
- Official campaign website
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- JulieMarie Shepherd on Facebook
- JulieMarie Shepherd on Twitter
Footnotes
- ↑ Re-elect Shepherd, "About JulieMarie," accessed November 18, 2013
- ↑ Re-elect Shepherd, "On the Issues," accessed November 18, 2013
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Official primary candidate list," accessed May 1, 2014
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed June 25, 2014
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Official general election candidate list," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Colorado TRACER, "Candidate and Candidate Committee Detail," accessed December 19, 2013
- ↑ shepherdforcolorado.com, "Supporters," accessed October 3, 2014
- ↑ Re-elect Shepherd, "Supporters," accessed November 18, 2013
| ||||||||||
