Azark David Cobbs
Azark David Cobbs was a candidate seeking an at-large seat on the Champaign Community Unit School District 4 Board of Education in Illinois. He ran against two incumbents and five fellow challengers in the general election on April 7, 2015.[1][2] He lost the election.[3]
Cobbs discussed some of the issues facing the district and his plans for the future with the other eight candidates running in this election in a series of candidate forums in March 2015. The candidates shared why they decided to run for school board, where they think the district's new high school should be located if the plans to build it pass a referendum on April 7, 2015, and what they thought about the district's school resource officer program.
- See also: Issues in the election
Biography
Cobbs has served on the district's Educational Equity and Excellence committee since 2012. With the other committee members, he helped launch a pilot program at an elementary school in the district to create achievement portfolios for 10 third- and fourth-grade African American male students to help give them a purpose and a positive path to follow. He has a son and two daughters.[4]
Elections
2015
Five of the seven at-large seats on the Champaign Community Unit School District 4 Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Four of the seats were four-year terms, and one seat was up for election to fill an unexpired two-year term.
Only two incumbents, Kerris Lee and Jamar Brown, ran for re-election. They faced six challengers, Amy Armstrong, Azark David Cobbs, Christopher James Kloeppel, Kathy Richards, Kathy Shannon and Alissia Young. Four newcomers, Armstrong, Kloeppel, Richards and Shannon, won the seats. Candidate Jonathan Westfield ran unopposed and won the unexpired two-year term.
The board of education consists of seven members elected at-large to four-year terms on a staggered basis every odd-numbered year. In 2013, three full, four-year term seats and two two-year term seats were up for election.
Results
| Champaign Community Unit School District 4, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Amy Armstrong |
19.3% | 8,315 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kathy Richards |
16.9% | 7,259 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kathy Shannon |
16.4% | 7,083 | |
| Nonpartisan | Christopher James Kloeppel |
13% | 5,579 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jamar Brown Incumbent | 12.1% | 5,214 | |
| Nonpartisan | Alissia Young | 9.6% | 4,145 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kerris Lee Incumbent | 9% | 3,855 | |
| Nonpartisan | Azark David Cobbs | 3.8% | 1,621 | |
| Total Votes | 43,071 | |||
| Source: Champaign County Clerk, "Consolidated General April 7, 2015: Official Results," accessed April 22, 2015 | ||||
Funding
School board candidates in Illinois are only required to file campaign finance reports if they accept contributions or make expenditures in excess of $5,000 in a 12-month period.[5]
Cobbs reported no contributions or expenditures to the Illinois State Board of Elections in this election.[6]
Endorsements
Cobbs did not receive any official endorsements for this election.
Campaign themes
2015
In an interview with the News-Gazette, Cobbs shared his priorities if elected to the board:
| “ | I want to help make a difference in children's lives here in town. I've had a pretty good life myself, and I want to devote my time back to the kids. If I'm sitting on the board, I can make the decisions that will help kids in our community. I have a certain rapport with kids, and I know I can make a difference.[7] | ” |
| —News-Gazette interview with Azark David Cobbs (2015)[4] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Azark David Cobbs Champaign Community Unit School District 4. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Champaign Community Unit School District 4, Illinois
- Champaign Community Unit School District 4 elections (2015)
- Hot tub Gatorade, turnout in Peoria and the Wisconsin state budget... (April 8, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Champaign County Clerk, "What is required to file your nomination papers to run for office?" accessed January 19, 2015
- ↑ Champaign County Clerk, "2015 School Board Filings," accessed January 19, 2015
- ↑ News-Gazette, "LIVE: Election Day April 7, 2015," April 7, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 News-Gazette, "Champaign schools candidate taking shot for the 'at risk,'" March 14, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "A Guide to Campaign Disclosure," accessed March 31, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate Disclosure Search," accessed April 3, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
