Bridgeport Public Schools elections (2017)
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Six of nine seats on the Bridgeport Public Schools Board of Education in Connecticut were up for at-large election on November 7, 2017. One of the seats was up for special election due to a resignation on the board. In this race, Sybil Allen (D) defeated James Carbone (R) for a two-year term.[1] In the race for the four-year terms, incumbent John Weldon (R) won, along with former member Hernan Illingworth (D) and newcomers Jessica Martinez (D), Chris Taylor (R), and Joseph Sokolovic, who ran as both a Republican and Working Families Party candidate. Chaila Robinson (D), though she received the third-highest vote total, was not elected due to a state minority election law that prevents one political party from controlling more than two-thirds of the board's seats. In this election, Democrats were only able to elect three candidates, leaving the other seats open for other parties.[2][3] Incumbent Howard Gardner (Working Families Party) lost his seat. Shavonne Davis, who accompanied Gardner on the Working Families Party ticket, and Sara Lewis, a petitioning candidate, also lost.[4][5][6]
As a petitioning candidate, Lewis ran without a party endorsement.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Bridgeport Public Schools Board of Education is composed of nine partisan members who are elected at large to four-year terms in odd-numbered years. Six seats, including one seat up for special election, were up for election on November 7, 2017.
As of the 2017 election, state law required a minimum of one-third of the board's seats to be held by minority parties following each election.[7] As a maximum of six seats on the Bridgeport Public Schools Board of Education can be held by members of the same political party, Bridgeport's city charter states that only three members of the same political party can run in each election cycle.[8]
To cast a ballot in this election, citizens had to register to vote by October 31, 2017.[9] For information on the voter identification requirements in Connecticut, please click here.
Candidates and results
At-large (4-year)
Results
| Bridgeport Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Jessica Martinez |
20.81% | 3,483 | |
| Democratic | Hernan Illingworth |
19.97% | 3,342 | |
| Democratic | Chaila Robinson | 18.93% | 3,168 | |
| Republican/WFP | Joseph Sokolovic |
9.72% | 1,626 | |
| Republican | John Weldon Incumbent |
8.89% | 1,487 | |
| Republican | Chris Taylor |
6.83% | 1,143 | |
| Working Families Party | Howard Gardner Incumbent | 6.74% | 1,128 | |
| Working Families Party | Shavonne Davis | 5.07% | 848 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sara Lewis | 2.81% | 471 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.23% | 38 | ||
| Total Votes | 16,734 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Election Center: 2017 November Municipal Election," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Candidates
 Hernan Illingworth 
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Jessica Martinez
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Chaila Robinson
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 John Weldon
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Joseph Sokolovic
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Chris Taylor
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| Sara Lewis |  Howard Gardner
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Shavonne Davis
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At-large (2-year)
Results
| Bridgeport Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 2-year term, 2017 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Sybil Allen |
73.47% | 3,960 | |
| Republican | James Carbone | 26.53% | 1,430 | |
| Total Votes | 5,390 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Election Center: 2017 November Municipal Election," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Candidates
| Sybil Allen
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James Carbone
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Connecticut elections, 2017
The Bridgeport Public Schools Board of Education was scheduled to share the ballot with all city council seats.[10]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for this Connecticut school board election in 2017:[9]
Endorsements
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
All candidates had to register with the town clerk in charge of their election within 10 days of becoming a candidate. At that time, candidates had to declare their campaign funding source. They could choose to be funded by one of three types of committees: a single candidate committee, a political slate committee, or a town committee.[11]
Single candidate committees are formed to fund the candidate's campaign in only one election. The Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission states that this is the most common type of committee formed. Political slate committees are formed for a particular election and must be the source of funding for two or more candidates. An exception to the multiple-candidate rule is when only one candidate on the slate advances past the primary election, leaving a single candidate in the slate. Town committees are established by political parties to fund multiple candidates over multiple election cycles. Like political slate committees, town committees must fund two or more candidates, unless only one candidate makes it past the primary election.[11][12]
Candidates may be exempt from registering under a committee if they plan to only use personal funds to finance their campaign, do not expect to spend or receive more than $1,000, or do not expect to spend or receive any funds. If any of these conditions change, candidates had three days to update their registration.[11][12]
Candidates who participated in the general election had different filing deadlines than candidates who participated in the primary election.[13]
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Past elections
To see results from past elections in Bridgeport Public Schools, click here.
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Candidate survey
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About the district
- See also: Bridgeport Public Schools, Connecticut
Bridgeport Public Schools is located in southwestern Connecticut in Fairfield County. The county does not have a county seat. The county was home to an estimated 944,177 residents from 2010 to 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[14] The district was the third-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 21,047 students.[15]
Demographics
Fairfield County overperformed in comparison to the rest of Connecticut in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2016. The United States Census Bureau found that 45.8 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 37.6 percent of state residents. The median household income in Fairfield County was $84,233, while it was $70,331 for Connecticut. The county poverty rate was 9.0 percent, compared to the state's 9.8 percent.[14]
| Racial Demographics, 2010-2016[14] | ||
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| Race | Fairfield County (%) | Connecticut (%) |
| White | 79.2 | 80.6 |
| Black or African American | 12.5 | 11.8 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Asian | 5.7 | 4.7 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 19.4 | 15.7 |
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 Bridgeport Public Schools Connecticut election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Bridgeport Public Schools | Connecticut | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ CT Post, "Six Bridgeport school board seats open in the fall," July 16, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut General Assembly, "Minority Representation and Changes to Party Affiliation," February 24, 1998
- ↑ Connecticut Post, "New members elected to city’s board of education," November 7, 2017
- ↑ Marielle Bricker "Email communication with Bridgeport Town Clerk," August 21, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Bridgeport Sample Ballot," accessed October 20, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Election Center: 2017 November Municipal Election," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut General Assembly, "Chapter 146: Sec. 9-167a. Minority representation," accessed September 18, 2017
- ↑ Bridgeport, Connecticut, "Charter of the City of Bridgeport," accessed September 25, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Office of the Secretary of the State, "November 7, 2017 Municipal Election Calendar," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ Only in Bridgeport, "Calling All Candidates, Election Calendar Set," January 15, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "Understanding the Connecticut Campaign Finance Laws: A Guide for Municipal Candidates," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "2017 Municipal Election Campaign Overview," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "2017 Filing Calendar," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 United States Census Bureau, "Fairfield County, Connecticut," accessed September 21, 2017
- ↑ 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
| Bridgeport Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Fairfield County, Connecticut | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large (4-year): Incumbent, Hernan Illingworth • Incumbent, John Weldon • Jessica Martinez • Chaila Robinson • Joseph Sokolovic • Chris Taylor • Sara Lewis • Shavonne Davis • Howard Gardner At-large (2-year): Sybil Allen • James Carbone |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
