Carlos Thomas

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Carlos Thomas

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

May 20, 2025

Education

Associate

Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts in Pittsburgh, 2011

Personal

Birthplace

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Profession

Owner/operator of Confluence

Contact

Campaign website

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Carlos Thomas (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Pittsburgh School District school board to represent District 1 in Pennsylvania. He lost in the Democratic primary on May 20, 2025.

Biography

Thomas was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned an associate degree from the Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts in Pittsburgh in 2011. His career experience includes being the owner and operator of Confluence. He is also the director of Feed the Hood.

Thomas has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Pittsburgh Food Policy Council
• The Food Trust
• Homewood Food Access Working Group
• Hill District Food Access Working Group
• Feed the Hood
• The Wellness Collective
• ArtsinHD

Elections

2025

See also: Pittsburgh Public Schools, Pennsylvania, elections (2025)

General election

General election for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1

Tawana Cook Purnell won election in the general election for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1 on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tawana Cook Purnell (D)	99.0	7,807
		Other/Write-in votes	1.0	77

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	There were no incumbents in this race. Source	Total votes: 7,884
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1

Tawana Cook Purnell defeated Carlos Thomas in the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1 on May 20, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tawana Cook Purnell	61.3	3,981
		Carlos Thomas	38.3	2,490
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	27

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,498
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Thomas received the following endorsements.

• Working Families Party

2023

See also: Municipal elections in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (2023)

General election

General election for Allegheny County Council District 10

Incumbent DeWitt Walton defeated Carl Redwood in the general election for Allegheny County Council District 10 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	DeWitt Walton (D)	62.3	13,934
	Submit photo	Carl Redwood (Independent)	37.4	8,378
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	71

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 22,383
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Allegheny County Council District 10

Incumbent DeWitt Walton defeated Carlos Thomas and Eric S. Smith in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County Council District 10 on May 16, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	DeWitt Walton	38.4	5,184
		Carlos Thomas	33.0	4,450
	Submit photo	Eric S. Smith	28.2	3,801
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	62

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,497
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2021

See also: Pittsburgh Public Schools, Pennsylvania, elections (2021)

General election

General election for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1

Incumbent Sylvia Wilson won election in the general election for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1 on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sylvia Wilson (R / D)	97.8	5,909
		Other/Write-in votes	2.2	133

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,042
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1

Incumbent Sylvia Wilson defeated Grace Higginbotham and Carlos Thomas in the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1 on May 18, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sylvia Wilson	55.8	3,260
	Submit photo	Grace Higginbotham	32.9	1,924
		Carlos Thomas	10.9	634
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	22

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,840
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1

Incumbent Sylvia Wilson advanced from the Republican primary for Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1 on May 18, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sylvia Wilson	90.0	144
		Other/Write-in votes	10.0	16

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 160
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Thomas' endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Carlos Thomas did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

2023

Carlos Thomas did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Carlos Thomas completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Thomas' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Carlos Thomas is a Community advocate and Father, residing in the neighborhood of Homewood in the City of Pittsburgh. A graduate of Peabody High School class of 09, Becoming a Father at the age of seven-teen, Carlos has seen many struggles of what a free and public education system did not prepare him for both being a student and graduate. Carlos attended three of the Pittsburgh Public Schools K-12, giving him vivid vision of how the recent and dynamic changes within our school system has affected both the outcome of our cities youth and the future of our city. Carlos has become very familiar with the consistent in-consistences between the School Board, School administration, and teachers in the recent generations. After two years of raising his twelve year old daughter, fighting for equal and easily accessible education has been heightened in his career understanding how important our learning environments play an active roll. "That is what we eat, how we wake up in the a.m., even how far we have to travel for school. These are the things that need to change to make education equal and its going to take the community to do it."

​

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We need a change food policies that provide More transparency for Students and FAMILIES
• Connect families with resources to aid mental, physical and economic health
• Increase strength in relationships for stronger CTE programs

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Provide Nutrition Education Starting in Early Childhood using community and county resources such as WIC, SNAP and other community food distributions. Bringing these services closer to families in need will help improve both students and families overall mental, physical, economic health. Changes to PPS food policies would allow the food system to be more transparent to students and families. This would encourage students to build a positive relationship with healthy food throughout the school year, building healthy habits to practice at home.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibilities of this office is to put our students first. Keeping our students first enables our education system to perform at its highest potential. Holding this office means that you are obligated to support the student and their families voice, amplifying it so that it is head and applied.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

One of the most historical times in my life was fairly recent. I was able to walk to Washington DC for the 57th anniversary of the Million Man March, I was able to join the nephews of slain George Floyd, who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis. Taking this walk was a symbol of solidarity for the trauma our region had experienced with the murder of Antwon Rose II.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

The primary job of the school board is to be the voice of the community it serves. To promote the ideas of the community and to ensure that they are communicated effectively.

Who are your constituents?

My constituents is my community, the community is and always will be my priority.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

The first thing I would do is meet them where they are, as school board director I will be sure to make decisions that would benefit even our most marginalized communities. Building relationships with the organizations around us to help us perfect our community schools model and further the equality of our students.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

I would build relationships by providing transparency in my decision making. Also keeping a constant flow of communication open with the community I serve through all levels of communication.

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

Yes, We have such a cultural gap in our public schools. I would want to rethink what it means to educate our children at the same time meet their cultural needs. Also supporting how schools communicate with it's families.

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

Politics get in the way of quality education. I would make informed decisions with the care and quality of education of all children in mind. Decisions that would promote long term success of our district and it's families.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Good teaching comes from good teachers, teachers who can come to work and find joy in what they can accomplish in their classroom. Providing brainstorming sessions among professionals as well as peer to peer evaluations. This would allow educators to be included in the processes of education.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

Expanding our curriculum would be a great asset to our region especially in technical fields and traditional trades. I would leverage the programming of the districts CTE program and work to promote those career paths to our students.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

I would work to understand where are budget is coming from and create innovative ways for the money we spend to be invested back into our schools.Making connections with some of Pittsburgh's biggest corporations and non-profits to create long term funding streams.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

The idea of Police in nature is of a predatory culture and should be dismantled and defuded. Creating safe environments that foster positive problem solving is one of my goals. We can no longer feed into the school to prison pipeline as an excuse not to deal with the issues of our communities.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

Providing adequate examples of self care routines that align with educational principles such as meditation and yoga, aid in the mental well being of our children. Providing healthy and nutritious meals is also a top priority of mine. What we put into our bodies plays a huge role as to how we perform.

What role do you imagine technology playing in (and outside) the classroom in the future? How would you prepare the district for this?

As a district we are well behind the technology curve, as the pandemic pointed out to us. Obtaining adequate long term funding would be the first goal. After that it would be training our teachers on how to include technology into their teaching methods.

What are your views on how to address schooling during pandemic times?

WE have to to use this time to completely reassess what we are doing and how are we doing it. Before we continue providing the same thing that got us here in the first place. we must take head to what our students and they're families are communications and put effective action behind it.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

I will be actively engaged with parents, not just at school board meetings, but beyond the walls of the School District meeting. From making appearances at community events to supporting our local community sports I want to be out talking to our community and taking their voice with me.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Pittsburgh School District Board of Directors District 1

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