Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Allentown City School District elections (2017)
2019 →
← 2015 |
|---|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Enrollment (14-15) |
|
|
Four seats on the Allentown City School District school board were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. Democratic and Republican primary elections were held on May 16, 2017. Board incumbent Sara Jane Brace and newcomer Robert Walker cross-filed to run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. Three candidates filed to run as Democrats: Phoebe Harris, Cheryl Johnson Watts, and Lisa Conover. All five candidates advanced to the general election, where Brace, Harris, Watts, and Conover defeated Walker to win election.[1]
Brace won both the Democratic and Republican primaries, while Walker won the Republican primary. Harris, Conover, and Johnson won the Democratic primary.[2][3]
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.[4]
Brace was appointed to the board in 2017 to fill a vacancy left by former board member Michael Welsh.[5]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Allentown City School District school board consists of nine members elected at large to four-year terms. General elections are held in November of odd-numbered years, with partisan primaries held in May of odd-numbered years. Five seats were up for election in 2015, and four seats were up for election in 2017.
Cross-filing
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, 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.
General candidate requirements
To run for a school board in Pennsylvania, one must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old, and a resident of the school district for at least one year before the election date. To run in this 2017 school board election, partisan candidates had to file for office by March 7, 2017, and independent candidates had to file by August 1, 2017.[6][7]
Voter requirements
To vote in Pennsylvania, a resident must be a U.S. citizen for at least one month and a resident of the district in which he or she is registering for at least 30 days before the election. A voter must be at least 18 years of age by the next election date. The deadline to register to vote before the primary election was April 17, 2017, and the deadline to register to vote before the general election was October 10, 2017.[8]
- See also: Voting in Pennsylvania and Voter identification laws by state
Candidates and results
General election
Results
| Allentown City School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic/Republican |  Sara Jane Brace Incumbent |
24.82% | 8,222 | |
| Democratic | Cheryl Johnson Watts |
21.44% | 7,102 | |
| Democratic | Lisa Conover |
21.38% | 7,081 | |
| Democratic | Phoebe Harris |
19.36% | 6,412 | |
| Republican | Robert Walker | 12.99% | 4,303 | |
| Total Votes | 33,120 | |||
| Source: Lehigh County Pennsylvania, "Election Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Candidates
 Sara Jane Brace 
|
 Lisa Conover
|
Phoebe Harris
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Cheryl Johnson Watts
|
 Robert Walker
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
Democratic primary
Results
| Allentown City School District, At-Large Democratic Primary Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Cheryl Johnson Watts |
22.07% | 3,061 | |
| Democratic | Lisa Conover |
21.71% | 3,011 | |
| Democratic | Sara Jane Brace Incumbent |
21.62% | 2,999 | |
| Democratic | Phoebe Harris |
19.06% | 2,643 | |
| Democratic | Robert Walker | 15.54% | 2,156 | |
| Total Votes | 13,870 | |||
| Source: Lehigh County, "Municipal Primary - May 2017: School Districts Director Results," accessed June 19, 2017 | ||||
Republican primary
Results
| Allentown City School District, At-Large Primary Republican Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Robert Walker |
53.25% | 1,458 | |
| Republican | Sara Jane Brace Incumbent |
46.53% | 1,274 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.22% | 6 | ||
| Total Votes | 2,738 | |||
| Source: Lehigh County, "Municipal Primary - May 2017: School Districts Director Results," accessed June 19, 2017 | ||||
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2017
The Allentown City School District general election shared the ballot with elections for:[4]
- State judges
- Local trial court judges
- County executive
- County commissioner
- Allentown mayor
- City council
- Controller
The Allentown City School District primary election shared the ballot with primary elections for state judges, county commissioner, and the City of Allentown mayor and city council.[9]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for this Pennsylvania school board election in 2017:[10]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| March 7, 2017 | Partisan candidate filing deadline |
| April 17, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote before the primary election |
| May 16, 2017 | Primary election day |
| August 1, 2017 | Independent candidate filing deadline |
| October 10, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote before the general election |
| November 7, 2017 | General election day |
Endorsements
Brace, Conover, Watts, and Walker received official endorsements from Planned Parenthood.[11]
Conover, Watts, and Walker were endorsed by the Lehigh Valley AFL-CIO.[12]
Conover, Harris, and Johnson Watts received endorsements from the East Penn Democratic Club.[13]
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
| 2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Pennsylvania[14] | |
|---|---|
| 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.[15]
The table to the left details the four campaign finance deadlines in 2017.[14]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015
2013
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
|
|
Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
About the district
The Allentown City School District is located in eastern Pennsylvania in Lehigh County. The seat of county government is Allentown. Lehigh County was home to an estimated 363,147 residents between 2010 and 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the fifth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 16,483 students.[16][17]
Demographics
Lehigh County slightly underperformed compared to Pennsylvania as a whole in terms higher educational achievement from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 28.5 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had obtained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 28.6 percent of state residents. The median household income in the county was $56,117, compared to $53,599 for the entire state. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 12.1 percent, while that rate was 13.2 percent for all state residents.[17]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[17] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Lehigh County (%) | Pennsylvania (%) |
| White | 84.2 | 82.6 |
| Black or African American | 8.8 | 11.7 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Asian | 3.6 | 3.4 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 2.5 | 1.9 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 22.4 | 6.8 |
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 Allentown City School District Pennsylvania election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Allentown City School District | Pennsylvania | School Boards |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Lehigh County Pennsylvania, "Election Results," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Lehigh County, "Unofficial List of Candidates," accessed March 8, 2017
- ↑ Lehigh County, "Municipal Primary - May 2017: School Districts Director Results," accessed May 16, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lehigh County, "Official Ballot," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ The Valley Ledger, "ASD School Board Names Sara Jane Brace to Fill Open Position," March 4, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania School Boards Association, "How to Run for School Board," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ VotesPA, "How to Register," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ Lehigh County, "List of Candidates," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ Planned Parenthood, "2017 Voter's Guide," accessed October 31, 2017
- ↑ Lehigh Valley Labor Council, "Vote General Election November 7th!" accessed October 31, 2017
- ↑ Lehigh County Democratic Club, "Democratic Sample Ballot," accessed November 6, 2017
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed April 19, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Campaign Finance Reporting Law," accessed January 15, 2014
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 United States Census Bureau, "Lehigh County," accessed March 24, 2017
| Allentown City School District elections in 2017 | |
| Lehigh County, Pennsylvania | |
| Election date: | Primary: May 16, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Incumbent, Sara Jane Brace (D)(R) • Robert Walker (R) • Phoebe Harris (D) • Lisa Conover (D) • Cheryl Johnson Watts (D) |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
