Albuquerque Public Schools elections (2017)
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Four of the seven seats on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on February 7, 2017. In his bid for re-election to District 3, incumbent Lorenzo Garcia defeated challengers Ali Ennenga, Amy Legant, and Charles White. District 5 incumbent Steven Michael Quezada and District 6 incumbent Don Duran did not file to run for re-election, leaving both seats open for newcomers. Four candidates—Annie Bell-Rahman, Rachel Gonzales, Kayla Marshall, and Candelaria Patterson—ran for the District 5 seat, and Patterson won the race. Six candidates—Abbas Ali Akhil, Elizabeth Armijo, C. Douglas Brown, Melissa Finch, Paula Maes, and Paul Sievert—ran for the District 6 seat, and Armijo won. The race for the District 7 seat featured incumbent David Peercy and challengers Ian Burch, William Steinberg, and Brian Tierney. Peercy won re-election to the board.[1] A total of six candidates withdrew from the race before their names were put on the ballot: R. Jason Vaillancourt in District 3, Than-Lan Sena, Alex Villanueva, and Anne Young in District 5, Stephen Verchinski in District 6, and Sina-Aurelia Pleasant-Soul in District 7.[2][3]
The 2017 race attracted a higher number of candidates than the district's 2013 and 2015 elections attracted combined. Click here for more election trends in Albuquerque Public Schools.
Candidates in this election participated in candidate forums for each district seat in January 2017. Click here to see videos of those forums.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Albuquerque Board of Education consists of seven members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held by district on a staggered basis every February of odd-numbered years. Three seats—from Districts 1, 2, and 4—were up for election on February 3, 2015, and four seats—from Districts 3, 5, 6, and 7—were up for election on February 7, 2017. There was no primary election.[4][5]
To be eligible to run for office, school board candidates had to live in the boundaries of the school district and be qualified electors of the state. To get on the ballot, they had to file on December 20, 2016. The deadline to withdraw as a candidate was January 3, 2017.[6][7]
To vote in this election, citizens of the school district had to register by January 10, 2017.[7] Photo identification was not required to vote in New Mexico.[8]
Candidates and results
District 3
Results
| Albuquerque Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Lorenzo Garcia Incumbent |
64.90% | 3,227 |
| Amy Legant | 17.58% | 874 |
| Charles White | 9.49% | 472 |
| Ali Ennenga | 8.00% | 398 |
| Write-in votes | 0.02% | 1 |
| Total Votes | 4,972 | |
| Source: Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election February 7, 2017," accessed February 22, 2017 and Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election was certified Friday, Feb. 10th, 2017," February 13, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Lorenzo Garcia 
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Ali Ennenga | ||
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| Amy Legant | Charles White | ||
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District 5
Results
| Albuquerque Public Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Candelaria Patterson |
56.83% | 1,024 |
| Kayla Marshall | 26.86% | 484 |
| Rachel Gonzales | 11.71% | 211 |
| Annie Bell-Rahman | 4.61% | 83 |
| Total Votes | 1,802 | |
| Source: Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election February 7, 2017," accessed February 22, 2017 and Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election was certified Friday, Feb. 10th, 2017," February 13, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Annie Bell-Rahman | Rachel Gonzales | ||
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| Kayla Marshall | Candelaria Patterson
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District 6
Results
| Albuquerque Public Schools, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Elizabeth Armijo |
53.27% | 2,622 |
| C. Douglas Brown | 18.39% | 905 |
| Abbas Ali Akhil | 13.04% | 642 |
| Paul Sievert | 7.58% | 373 |
| Paula Maes | 5.28% | 260 |
| Melissa Finch | 2.44% | 120 |
| Total Votes | 4,922 | |
| Source: Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election February 7, 2017," accessed February 22, 2017 and Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election was certified Friday, Feb. 10th, 2017," February 13, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Abbas Ali Akhil | Elizabeth Armijo
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C. Douglas Brown | |||
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| Melissa Finch | Paula Maes | Paul Sievert | |||
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District 7
Results
| Albuquerque Public Schools, District 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| David Peercy Incumbent |
64.04% | 4,219 |
| Brian Tierney | 26.85% | 1,769 |
| William Steinberg | 4.58% | 302 |
| Ian Burch | 4.52% | 298 |
| Total Votes | 6,588 | |
| Source: Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election February 7, 2017," accessed February 22, 2017 and Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election was certified Friday, Feb. 10th, 2017," February 13, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| David Peercy
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Ian Burch | ||
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| William Steinberg | Brian Tierney | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: New Mexico elections, 2017
The Albuquerque Public Schools election shared the ballot with elections for the District 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 seats on the Central New Mexico Community College Governing Board.[5]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for New Mexico school board elections in 2017.[6][7][9]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 20, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| January 3, 2017 | Candidate withdrawal deadline |
| January 10, 2017 | Voter registration deadline |
| February 7, 2017 | General election |
| March 1, 2017 | Board members take office |
| April 3, 2017 | Annual campaign finance report due (if applicable) |
Endorsements
The Albuquerque Teachers Federation, the Albuquerque Educational Assistants Association, the Weekly Alibi, and the Progressive Champions PAC endorsed District 3 incumbent Lorenzo Garcia, District 5 candidate Candelaria Patterson, District 6 candidate Elizabeth Armijo, and District 7 incumbent David Peercy.[10][11][12]
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $24,615.89 and spent a total of $24,615.89 in the election, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State.[13]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| District 3 | |||
| Lorenzo Garcia | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Ali Ennenga | $2,971.29 | $2,971.29 | $0.00 |
| Amy Legant | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Charles White | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| District 5 | |||
| Annie Bell-Rahman | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Rachel Gonzales | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Kayla Marshall | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Candelaria Patterson | $18,887.78 | $18,887.78 | $0.00 |
| District 6 | |||
| Abbas Ali Akhil | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Elizabeth Armijo | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| C. Douglas Brown | $2,756.82 | $2,756.82 | $0.00 |
| Melissa Finch | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Paula Maes | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Paul Sievert | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| District 7 | |||
| David Peercy | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Ian Burch | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| William Steinberg | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Brian Tierney | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2015District 1
District 2
District 4
2013District 3
District 5
District 6
District 7
2011District 1
District 2
District 4
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What was at stake?
2017
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2015
With an average of 4.5 candidates running per seat on the ballot in 2017, the race to determine the next members of the Albuquerque Board of Education had a higher turnout than the district's 2013 and 2015 races. “I have never seen it fill up like this,” said Jaime Diaz, deputy county clerk for Bernalillo County. A total of 24 candidates originally filed to run in the race, for an average of six candidates per seat, but six of them withdrew before their names were put on the ballot.[3][2]
Two newcomers were elected to the board in 2017, winning two open seats. Both incumbents who ran to retain their seats in 2017 won re-election to the board. Incumbents did not have a 100 percent re-election rate in 2013 or 2015.
| School board election trends | |||||
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| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Albuquerque Public Schools | |||||
| 2017 | 4.50 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 50.00% | |
| 2015 | 3.33 | 0.00% | 50.00% | 66.67% | |
| 2013 | 2.5 | 25.00% | 66.67% | 50.00% | |
| New Mexico | |||||
| 2015 | 2.05 | 30.00% | 64.29% | 50.00% | |
| United States | |||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
Issues in the election
Candidate forums
Candidates in this election participated in candidate forums for each district seat in January 2017. Videos of the forums can be found below, with the forum for District 3 starting on the left and continuing in numerical order with the forum for District 7 on the right.
Issues in the district
Bill splitting district into three introduced in state Senate
New Mexico Senate Bill 89, which sought to limit the size of school districts in the state to 40,000 students, was introduced in the state Senate in January 2017 and referred to the Senate Education Committee. The bill did not leave committee before the regular 2017 session ended on March 18, 2017. If it had passed, the bill would have only affected Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), which, as the state's largest school district, served 93,001 students during the 2014-2015 school year. It would have required APS to split into three separate districts.[14][15][16]
State Rep. David Adkins (R-29), a proponent of the bill, said multiple, smaller districts would improve education and let the community be more involved. “It would make it easier for the superintendents of the school districts to really implement the vision, implement the changes that need to happen at a district level but it would be focused on the geographic areas,” said Adkins.[14]
Albuquerque Board of Education President David Peercy, who won re-election on February 7, 2017, said he had concerns about the bill. He was specifically concerned with equity, transportation, and funding issues if the district was split into three separate districts. “I think it would create equity problems at our schools. Equity from a financial like capital debt. It would create equity problem from education,” said Peercy.[14]
Albuquerque Superintendent Raquel Reedy said SB 89 was "hard for me to even fathom." She said she thought it would do more harm than good. “I was surprised that it came up because frankly, I see the city of Albuquerque being impacted in a way that would divide the city,” said Reedy.[14]
Though she said she understood the problems associated with a large school district, Reedy proposed a different solution. Instead of breaking up the school district, she suggested having associate superintendents assigned to a small number of specific schools. Those associate superintendents would then report back to the district's administration. “I want that kind of rich dialogue to take place and if we do it consistently and we will across the board, you will have that and it will help our students as they go from level to level,” said Reedy.[14]
Adkins said he believed splitting up the district would bring more accountability and save money long term. "It’ll get more money into the classrooms. Less administration will be needed because they will be smaller districts,” said Adkins.[14]
Candidate survey
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About the district
- See also: Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico
The Albuquerque school district is located in Bernalillo County in central New Mexico. The county seat is Albuquerque. Bernalillo County was home to an estimated 676,685 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[17] The district was the largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 93,001 students.[15]
Demographics
Bernalillo County outperformed New Mexico as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 32.6 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 26.3 percent of state residents. The median household income for Bernalillo County was $47,725, compared to $44,963 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 19 percent, while it was 20.4 percent statewide.[17]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[17] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Bernalillo County (%) | New Mexico (%) | |
| White | 84.6 | 82.5 | |
| Black or African American | 3.4 | 2.6 | |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 6.0 | 10.5 | |
| Asian | 2.8 | 1.7 | |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0.2 | 0.2 | |
| Two or more races | 3.0 | 2.5 | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 49.2 | 48.0 | |
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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Albuquerque Public Schools New Mexico election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Albuquerque Public Schools | New Mexico | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election February 7, 2017 Unofficial Results," accessed February 7, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bernalillo County, "2017 School Board Election Candidates," accessed February 1, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Albuquerque Journal, "APS board election attracts 24 candidates," December 20, 2016
- ↑ Albuquerque Public Schools, "Board of Education," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bernalillo County Clerk, "Elections: 2017 APS/CNM Election," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 New Mexico School Boards Association, "School Board Member Handbook: CHAPTER II – LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Cuddy & McCarthy LLP, "New Mexico School District Election Calendar: For Regular School District Elections In February 2017," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State Voter Services, "Voter Registration Information," accessed February 18, 2017
- ↑ New Mexico Statutes, "Chapter 1. Elections: Article 22A. School District Campaign Reporting," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ Albuquerque Teachers Federation, "ATF and AEAA Board of Education Endorsements 2017," accessed February 2, 2017
- ↑ Weekly Alibi, "APS School Board Elections," accessed February 2, 2017
- ↑ Progressive Champions PAC, "APS & CNM Voter Guide: 2017 APS and & CNM Board Elections," accessed February 2, 2017
- ↑ New Mexico Campaign Finance Information System, "Public Reports: Search Candidates," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 KRQE News 13, "Senate bill would split Albuquerque Public Schools into separate, smaller districts," January 20, 2017
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
- ↑ Open States, "SB 89," accessed May 1, 2017
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 United States Census Bureau, "Bernalillo County, New Mexico," accessed January 4, 2017
| Albuquerque Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Bernalillo County, New Mexico | |
| Election date: | February 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District 3: • Incumbent, Lorenzo Garcia • Ali Ennenga • Amy Legant • Charles White District 5: • Annie Bell-Rahman • Rachel Gonzales • Kayla Marshall • Candelaria Patterson District 6: • Abbas Ali Akhil • Elizabeth Armijo • C. Douglas Brown • Melissa Finch • Paula Maes • Paul Sievert District 7: • Incumbent, David Peercy • Ian Burch • William Steinberg • Brian Tierney |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
