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Darlene Blake
Darlene Blake unsuccessfully ran for the District 4 seat on the Des Moines Board of Directors that was up for election on September 10, 2013. Blake was also a 2010 Republican candidate for the District 61 seat of the Iowa House of Representatives.
Biography
Darlene Blake resides in Des Moines, Iowa. Blake graduated from Rockford Senior High, which is not a part of Des Moines Public Schools.[1] She attended North Iowa Area Community College before receiving her B.S. and M.S. in education from the University of Minnesota, Mankato.[1][2] She has been employed as a Senior Consultant for DBM (Drake, Beam, Morin, Inc.) and as a Staff Development Coordinator for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, along with having her own career coaching business, Darlene Blake Solutions.[3] In 1982, Blake made an unsuccessful run for Polk County Treasurer as a Republican, and then served from 1985 to 1988 as the Chair of the Polk County Republican Party.[2] Blake serves as the current Chair of the Greater Des Moines Sister Cities Commission.[4]
Elections
2013
Teree Caldwell-Johnson defeated Darlene Blake and Joel Doyle for the new District 4 seat in the general election on September 10, 2013.[5]
Results
| Des Moines Public Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Teree Caldwell-Johnson Incumbent |
41.7% | 522 | |
| Nonpartisan | Joel Doyle | 31.4% | 393 | |
| Nonpartisan | Darlene Blake | 26.1% | 327 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.7% | 9 | |
| Total Votes | 1,251 | |||
| Source: Polk County Auditor, "School Board Election," accessed September 14, 2013 | ||||
Funding
During her campaign, no campaign donations or expenditures for Darlene Blake were reported to the Iowa Secretary of State.[6]
Endorsements
Darlene Blake did not receive any official endorsements for her campaign.
2010
Blake won the Republican primary but was defeated by Jo Oldson in the 2010 general election for District 61 of the Iowa House of Representatives in the November 2, 2010, state legislative elections. In an interview, Blake described herself as a "home cooked meal with a mixture of flavors. On jobs, fiscal issues and constitutional rights, I am a solid conservative. On social issues, I am a middle of the road moderate."[3]
| Iowa House of Representatives, District 61 General Election, 2-year term, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jo Oldson Incumbent |
64.9% | 7,943 | |
| Republican | Darlene Blake | 34.9% | 4,274 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 15 | |
| Total Votes | 12,232 | |||
| Source: Polk County Auditor, "General Election, Tuesday, November 2, 2010," accessed July 31, 2013 | ||||
| Iowa House of Representatives, District 61 Republican Primary, 2-year term, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Darlene Blake Incumbent |
99.6% | 1,390 | |
| Republican | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 5 | |
| Total Votes | 1,395 | |||
| Source: Polk County Auditor, "General Election, Tuesday, June 8, 2010," accessed July 31, 2013 | ||||
Campaign themes
Blake advocated the creation of a wellness program in the school district, arguing, "I think we’d see tremendous benefits both in the schools and in the community as a whole. Life is filled with stresses nowadays. ...If we start early and teach children to eat, exercise and sleep — all of these are components of wellness — I think there would be tremendous benefit."[7] Blake criticized both overspending in the district and the degree of consensus on the board, stating, "When people work together so closely for such a long period of time, pretty soon they start to think alike, and I think that’s a very dangerous thing."[8]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Darlene + Blake + Des + Moines + School"
See also
- Des Moines Public Schools, Iowa
- Des Moines Public Schools elections (2013)
- Iowa school districts
- School board elections portal
- Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2010
- Iowa
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Facebook, "Darlene Blake," accessed July 31, 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Project Vote Smart, "Darlene Blake's Biography," accessed July 31, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Christina Rivers, Examiner.com, "Interview with Darlene Blake: candidate for State Representative House District 61," August 5, 2010
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Darlene Blake," accessed July 31, 2013
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "10 vie for seats on Des Moines school board," August 2, 2013
- ↑ IECDB Web Reporting System, "IECDB State/Local Campaign Disclosure Reports," accessed September 9, 2013
- ↑ Mary Stegmeir, Des Moines Register, "School board candidates call for more counselors," August 28, 2013
- ↑ Andy Fales, WHOtv.com 13, "SCHOOL BOARD: 8 New Candidates Vying For Spots," September 4, 2013
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