Alison Smith
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Alison Smith is a former Region 3 representative on the Pennsbury School District school board in Pennsylvania. First elected in 2013, Smith lost a re-election campaign in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.
Pennsylvania permits school board candidates to cross-file in primary elections. This means that a candidate may file to run in the primary election for both the Democratic and Republican parties. A cross-filed candidate can advance to the general election by winning one or both of the partisan primaries. This maximizes a candidate’s chances of advancing to the general as they have two ways to win in the primary round. If the candidate wins only one of the primaries, they face the winner of the other primary in the general election. Cross-filers who win both primaries may still face independent candidates in the general election.[1]
Biography
Smith is a co-founder of Residents Against Flood Trends. She is also part of PTO committees, has coached soccer and Odyssey of the Mind (OM), and lead a Girl Scout troop. Smith earned her B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Connecticut.[2]
Elections
2017
Four of the nine seats on the Pennsbury School District school board were up for by-district general election on November 7, 2017. Two Region 1 seats and two Region 3 seats were on the ballot. All candidates in this race cross-filed to appear on both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots. A partisan primary election was held on May 16, 2017.
Region 1 incumbents Debra Wachspress and Joshua L. Waldorf ran unopposed in the primary and general election. In her bid for re-election, Region 3 incumbent Alison Smith faced Nancy Lawson and Christine Toy-Dragoni in the primary. Toy-Dragoni and Lawson won the Democratic nominations and moved on to the general, and Smith and Lawson won the Republican nominations. Lawon and Toy-Dragoni ultimately defeated the incumbent in the general election.[3][4][5]
These candidates could have faced independent candidates in the general election. However, no independent candidate filed by the August 1, 2017, deadline to get on the ballot.[6]
General results
| Pennsbury School District, Region 3 General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic/Republican |  Nancy Lawson |
46.26% | 4,294 | |
| Democratic | Christine Toy-Dragoni |
30.37% | 2,819 | |
| Republican | Alison Smith Incumbent | 23.38% | 2,170 | |
| Total Votes | 9,283 | |||
| Source: Bucks County Election Results, "Municipal Election Tuesday, November 07, 2017," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Democratic primary results
| Pennsbury School District, Region 3 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Christine Toy-Dragoni |
42.34% | 898 | |
| Democratic | Nancy Lawson |
34.37% | 729 | |
| Democratic | Alison Smith Incumbent | 23.29% | 494 | |
| Total Votes | 2,121 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed June 21, 2017 | ||||
Republican primary results
| Pennsbury School District, Region 3 Republican Primary Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Alison Smith Incumbent |
52.16% | 508 | |
| Republican | Nancy Lawson |
32.34% | 315 | |
| Republican | Christine Toy-Dragoni | 15.50% | 151 | |
| Total Votes | 974 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed June 21, 2017 | ||||
Funding
Ballotpedia was unable to obtain campaign finance reports submitted by candidates in this race. The Bucks County Board of Elections does not release campaign finance reports electronically and requires a fee to release hard copies.[7]
| 2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Pennsylvania[8] | |
|---|---|
| Date | Deadline |
| May 5, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Primary report due |
| June 15, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Primary report due |
| October 27, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Election report due |
| December 7, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Election report due |
School board candidates in Pennsylvania were required to report their campaign finance activity. Those who spent or received more than $250 in a reporting period had to file full reports. Those below the threshold had to file forms to declare they were exempt from reporting. Candidates could have, but were not required to, form committees to handle campaign finance transactions. They were not required to have separate bank accounts for campaign purposes.[9]
The table to the left details the four campaign finance deadlines in 2017.[8]
2013
Smith ran for a Region 3 seat on the school board on November 5, 2013, against Casey Lawrence, Skip Tenney, and Debra E. DeBlasio.
Election results
| Pennsbury School District, Region 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democrat | Alison Smith |
27.3% | 2,530 | |
| Democrat | Debra DeBlasio |
25.2% | 2,337 | |
| Republican | Casey Lawrence | 24.5% | 2,275 | |
| Republican | Skip Tenney | 23.1% | 2,142 | |
| Total Votes | 9,284 | |||
| Source: Bucks County Election Results, "School District - Pennsbury School District SD," accessed December 24, 2013 | ||||
| North Penn School District Region 3 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Casey Lawrence |
30.4% | 635 | |
| Republican | Skip Tenney |
27.3% | 570 | |
| Republican | Alison Smith | 23% | 480 | |
| Republican | Debra E. DeBlasio | 19.3% | 402 | |
| Total Votes | 2,087 | |||
| Source: "Bucks County Elections," "Municipal Primary of Tuesday, May 21, 2013," accessed September 24, 2013 | ||||
| North Penn School District Region 3 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democrat | Alison Smith |
37.9% | 1,050 | |
| Democrat | Debra E. DeBlasio |
36.9% | 1,023 | |
| Democrat | Casey Lawrence | 13.6% | 377 | |
| Democrat | Skip Tenney | 11.6% | 322 | |
| Total Votes | 2,772 | |||
| Source: "Bucks County Elections," "Municipal Primary of Tuesday, May 21, 2013," accessed September 24, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Smith reported no contributions or expenditures to the Pennsylvania Department of State in this election.[8]
Endorsements
Smith was endorsed by The Democratic Clubs for Lower Makefield Township/Yardley.[10]
Campaign themes
2013
Smith identified the following as her campaign themes for 2013:[11]
Issues
|
Note: The above quote is from the candidate's website, which may include some typographical or spelling errors.
See also
- Pennsbury School District, Pennsylvania
- Pennsbury School District elections (2017)
- Pennsbury School District elections (2013)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Pennsylvania School Boards Association, "How to Run for School Board," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ "Alison Smith for Pennsbury School Board," "Personal Biography," accessed September 25, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ Bucks County, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed May 16, 2017
- ↑ Bucks County, "Unofficial Candidate List," accessed April 7, 2017
- ↑ Bucks County Election Results, "Municpal Election Tuesday, November 07, 2017," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Bucks County, "Candidate List Municipal Election, November 7, 2017," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Thomas Freitag, Bucks County Election Coordinator," June 20, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed April 19, 2017 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "finance" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Campaign Finance Reporting Law," accessed January 15, 2014
- ↑ "United Pennsbury," "Upcoming School Board Election," accessed September 25, 2013
- ↑ "Smith for Pennsbury School Board," "Major issues facing Pennsbury," accessed September 25, 2013 (dead link)
| Pennsbury School District elections in 2017 | |
| Bucks County, Pennsylvania | |
| Election date: | Primary: May 16, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Region 1: Incumbent, Debra Wachspress (D/R) • Incumbent, Joshua L. Waldorf (D/R) Region 3: Incumbent, Alison Smith (R) • Nancy Lawson (D/R) • Christine Toy-Dragoni (D) |
| Important information: | What's at stake? |
