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ABC Unified School District elections (2015)

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2015 ABC Unified School District Elections
General Election date:
November 3, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district
Method of election
Elections
What was at stake?
Key deadlines
Additional elections
External links
See also
California
ABC Unified School District
Los Angeles County, California ballot measures
Local ballot measures, California
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Four seats on the ABC Unified School District School Board were up for general election on November 3, 2015.[1]

Candidates Letty Mendoza and Greg Uttecht ran for the open Trustee Area 1 seat. The Trustee Area 2 candidates included incumbent Maynard Law and challenger Latha Vasan. Incumbent Sophia Tse faced Hugo Enciso for the seat in Trustee Area 5. Christopher Apodaca and Silvestre Vasquez ran for the open seat in Trustee Area 7.[2][3] Both incumbents won another term on the board. Mendoza and Apodaca were elected to the Trustee Area 1 and 7 seats, respectively.[4]

Jean McHatton originally filed to run in the Trustee Area 5 race, but she withdrew due to her father's failing health. Her name did not appear on the ballot.[5][6]

See how this race compared to past school board elections in both the district and the state in the "Election trends" section.

About the district

See also: ABC Unified School District, California
ABC Unified School District is located in Los Angeles County, Calif.

ABC Unified School District is located in Los Angeles County in southwestern California. The county seat is Los Angeles.[7] Los Angeles County was home to 10,116,705 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[8] During the 2012-2013 school year, ABC Unified School District was the 70th-largest school district by enrollment in the state and served 20,835 students.[9]

Demographics

Los Angeles County underperformed compared to the rest of California in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 30.7 percent for California as a whole. The median household income for Los Angeles County was $55,909, compared to $61,094 for the entire state. The percentage of people living below the poverty level was 17.8 percent, compared to 15.9 percent statewide.[8]

Racial Demographics, 2014[8]
Race Los Angeles County (%) California (%)
White 71.3 73.2
Black or African American 9.2 6.5
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.5 1.7
Asian 14.8 14.4
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0.4 0.5
Two or more races 2.9 3.7
Hispanic or Latino 48.4 38.6

Presidential Voting Pattern,
Los Angeles County[10]
Year Democratic Vote Republican Vote
2012 2,216,903 885,333
2008 2,295,853 956,425
2004 1,907,736 1,076,225
2000 1,710,505 871,930

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Voter and candidate information

ABC Unified Logo.jpg

The ABC Unified School Board consists of seven members elected by geographic areas to four-year terms. Board member terms are staggered so that at least three members, but no more than four, are elected in November of each odd-numbered year. There are no primary elections. Prior to the 2015 election, the district held school board elections at-large. They settled a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit by switching to by-district elections after the 2013 school board election. Three at-large seats were up for election on November 5, 2013, and the Trustee Area 1, 4, 5 and 7 seats were on the ballot on November 3, 2015.[11][12][13]

School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, residents of the school district and qualified voters. They could not be employees of the school district while in office.[11] To get on the ballot, candidates had to file their declaration of candidacy with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk by August 7, 2015.[14]

To vote in this election, residents of the district had to register by October 19, 2015. Voters could cast vote-by-mail ballots from October 24, 2015, through Election Day.[14] Photo identification was not required to vote in California.

Elections

2015

Candidates

Trustee Area 1

Election results

ABC Unified School District, Trustee Area 1, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Letty Mendoza 54.9% 706
Greg Uttecht 45.1% 581
Total Votes 1,287
Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015

Candidates

Letty Mendoza Green check mark transparent.png Greg Uttecht

Letty Mendoza.JPG

  • Teacher

Greg Uttecht.jpg

  • Graduate, California State University at Fullerton
  • Vice president of operations

Trustee Area 4

Election results

ABC Unified School District, Trustee Area 4, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Maynard Law Incumbent 51.9% 788
Latha Vasan 48.1% 731
Total Votes 1,519
Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015

Candidates

Maynard Law Green check mark transparent.png Latha Vasan

Maynard Law.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • Member from 2007-2015
  • Retired special education teacher and public administrator

Latha Vasan.jpg

  • Graduate, George Mason University
  • Finance auditor

Trustee Area 5

Election results

ABC Unified School District, Trustee Area 5, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Sophia Tse Incumbent 62.0% 655
Hugo Enciso 38.0% 401
Total Votes 1,056
Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015

Candidates

Sophia Tse Green check mark transparent.png Hugo Enciso

Sophia Tse.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • Member from 2007-2015
  • Graduate, California State University at Long Beach
  • Clinical Nurse Specialist and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Good Samaritan Hospital
  • Professor, California State University at Dominguez Hills

Hugo Enciso.jpg

  • Graduate, University of California at Los Angeles
  • Broadcast media, La Opinion Newspaper and Azteca America Television

Trustee Area 7

Election results

ABC Unified School District, Trustee Area 7, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Christopher Apodaca 51.1% 468
Silvestre Vasquez 48.9% 448
Total Votes 916
Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015

Candidates

Christopher Apodaca Green check mark transparent.png Silvestre Vasquez

Christopher Apodaca.jpg

  • Graduate, Santa Clara University
  • Mortgage banker

Placeholder image.png

  • Corporate administrator

Endorsements

The following is a list of endorsements made in the 2015 ABC Unified School District elections:

Candidate endorsements
Endorsement Letty Mendoza Greg Uttecht Maynard Law Latha Vasan Sophia Tse Hugo Enciso Christopher Apodaca Silvestre Vasquez
Political parties
Democratic Party Los Angeles County Democratic Party[15]
{{{1}}}
Local organizations
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO[16]
{{{1}}}
Chinese American Political Action Committee[17]
{{{1}}}
Evolve[18]
{{{1}}}
National officials
Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D)[19]
{{{1}}}
Local officials
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe[20]
{{{1}}}
Cerritos Mayor Carol Chen[20][21]
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Cerritos Mayor Pro Tem George Ray[17][20]
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Cerritos City Council member Naresh Solanki[20][21]
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Artesia Council member Sally Flowers[17][20]
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
ABC Unified School Board members
Olympia Chen[17]
{{{1}}}
Lynda Johnson[17][20][21]
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Soo Yoo[20][21]
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}

Uttecht and Tse received endorsements in addition to those listed in the table above. Click the links below to find out more:

Campaign finance

Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png
See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2015

At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.

The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[22][23][24]

Campaign finance reporting requirements in California vary depending on how much money candidates spend or raise. For candidates planning to raise or spend less than $1,000, an Officeholder and Candidate Campaign Statement Short Form (Form 470) must be filed with their county or city elections office. If candidates plan to spend up to $1,000, including their own funds, they must also file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501). "If a candidate does not raise any money and personal funds are used only to pay filing or ballot statement fees, the candidate is not required to file the Form 501," according to the Fair Political Practices Commission. If candidates raise money outside of their own funds, a separate campaign bank account must be established.[25]

Candidates raising or spending more than $1,000, including their personal funds, must file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501), file a Statement of Organization (Form 410) and establish a separate bank account for campaign funds. They must then file Recipient Committee Campaign Statements (Form 460) to disclose their contributions and expenditures throughout their campaigns. If they receive more than $1,000 from a single source within 90 days of the election, they must file a 24-hour Contribution Report (Form 497).[25]

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If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Past elections

What was at stake?

2015

Election trends

School Board Election Trends Banner.jpg
See also: 2013 school board elections

With four seats on the ballot on November 3, 2015, over half of the ABC Unified School Board had the potential to change hands. Two of the four incumbents ran to retain their seats, guaranteeing that at least two newcomers would join the board. Both incumbents won re-election, and two newcomers were elected to the open seats. An average of 2.25 candidates ran per seat on the ballot in this race, which was higher than the average 1.91 who ran per seat in 2014 in California's largest school districts. That year, just over 25 percent of board seats in those districts were unopposed, and 37.65 percent of seats went to newcomers.

ABC Unified's 2013 school board race saw one new member elected to the board. Two of the three incumbents filed to retain their seats on the ballot. Both incumbents were re-elected, and the newcomer won the open seat. An average of 1.67 candidates ran per seat in that election.

Issues in the election

This trustee area map was approved by the school board in 2014. Click the map to see a larger image.
Switching to by district elections

ABC Unified's 2015 school board election was the first time the district used the by district election method. Prior to this election, school board races were held at large. The switch was made to settle a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit that was filed against the district in April 2013 by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Goldstien, Borgen, Dardarian and Ho law firm. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three plaintiffs, one of whom unsuccessfully applied for an open position on the board in 2011. According to the lawsuit, no Latinos had been voted onto the board since the 1990s.[26]

Though the district serves the cities of Artesia, Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens, as well as parts of Long Beach, Lakewood and Norwalk, prior to 2015, all the board members were from Cerritos. The school board approved a trustee area map in 2014 that divided the Cerritos area of the district into four separate districts. The candidates in the 2015 election were from Artesia, Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens.[26]

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the ABC Unified School District election in 2015:[14][27]

Deadline Event
June 8, 2015 - August 7, 2015 Candidate filing period
July 31, 2015 Semi-annual campaign finance report due
August 5, 2015 - November 2, 2015 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period
September 7, 2015 - October 20, 2015 Write-in candidate filing period
September 24, 2015 Pre-election campaign finance report due
October 19, 2015 Voter registration deadline
October 22, 2015 Pre-election campaign finance report due
October 24, 2015 First day voters can cast vote-by-mail ballots
November 3, 2015 Election Day
February 1, 2016 Semi-annual campaign finance report due

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: California elections, 2015

No elections shared the ballot with the ABC Unified School District. A number of other school districts in Los Angeles County, however, also held school board elections on November 3, 2015.[12]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms ABC Unified School District California. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

ABC Unified School District elections (2015) - Google News

See also

ABC Unified School District California School Boards
School Board badge.png
Seal of California.png
School Board badge.png

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “2015 Scheduled Elections,” accessed January 27, 2015
  2. ↑ Los Angeles County, California, "Candidate List," accessed August 10, 2015
  3. ↑ ABC Unified School District, "School Board Members," accessed January 27, 2015
  4. ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Semi-Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 4, 2015
  5. ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Jean McHatton," October 20, 2015
  6. ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Final List of Qualified Candidates to appear on the ballot," accessed October 20, 2015
  7. ↑ Geology.com, "California County Map with County Seat Cities," accessed July 1, 2014
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 United States Census Bureau, "Los Angeles County, California," accessed September 30, 2015
  9. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 29, 2015
  10. ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Past Election Results," accessed July 1, 2014
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 ABC Unified School District, "Bylaws of the Board" accessed July 29, 2015
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed July 29, 2015
  13. ↑ Press-Telegram, "ABC Unified settles lawsuit, agrees to school board elections by district," November 20, 2013
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Calendar of Events," accessed July 29, 2015
  15. ↑ Los Angeles County Democratic Party, "Endorsements," accessed October 26, 2015
  16. ↑ Los Angeles County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, "Endorsements," accessed September 30, 2015
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Sophia for ABC, "Endorsements," accessed October 26, 2015
  18. ↑ Evolve, "2015 Endorsements: November 03, 2015 Election," accessed October 26, 2015
  19. ↑ ABC Unified School Board Chris Apodaca, "Endorsements," accessed October 26, 2015
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 Greg for School Board 2015, "Endorsements," accessed October 26, 2015
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Latha Vasan 4 ABC School Board 2015, "Endorsements," accessed October 26, 2015
  22. ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
  23. ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
  24. ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Fair Political Practices Commission, "Local Candidates, Superior Court Judges, Their Controlled Committees, and Primarily Formed Committees for Local Candidates: Campaign Disclosure Manual 2," accessed August 5, 2015
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Press-Telegram, "ABC Unified to hold first by-district election after settling lawsuit," September 26, 2015
  27. ↑ Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 3, 2015," accessed August 5, 2015
2015 ABC Unified School District Elections
Los Angeles County, California
Election date:November 3, 2015
Candidates:Trustee Area 1: • Letty Mendoza • Greg Uttecht

Trustee Area 4: • Incumbent, Maynard Law • Latha Vasan
Trustee Area 5: • Incumbent, Sophia Tse • Hugo Enciso

Trustee Area 7: • Christopher Apodaca • Silvestre Vasquez
Important information:What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot
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