Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

Davidson County Schools elections (2016)

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
2014
School Board badge.png
Davidson County Schools Elections

General election date:
November 8, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
19,897 students

Three of the five seats on the Davidson County Schools school board were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbents Alan Beck and Phillip Craver filed for re-election and faced newcomers Jenny Ball, Kristie Bonnett, Mary Brown, Denise McLemore, Samantha Ogle, Nick Atkins, Ryan Davis, and Josh Nifong. Beck, Bonnett, and Craver won the election.[1][2]


Board incumbent Vicki Trail did not file for re-election, guaranteeing at least one newcomer to the board. There was no primary.

Elections

Voter and candidate information

Davidson County Schools.JPG

The Davidson County Schools school board consists of five members elected at large to four-year terms. The filing deadline for candidates to get on the ballot was July 29, 2016. Candidates had to file a petition with an amount of signatures equal to four percent of the registered voters in the county as of January 1, 2016.[3] There was a general election on November 8, 2016.

Candidates and results

At-Large

Results

Davidson County Schools,
At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Alan Beck Incumbent 16.04% 24,055
Green check mark transparent.png Kristie Bonnett 13.70% 20,536
Green check mark transparent.png Phillip Craver Incumbent 12.39% 18,575
Mary Brown 12.12% 18,177
Samantha Ogle 10.27% 15,398
Jenny Ball 8.34% 12,508
Nick Atkins 8.27% 12,397
Josh Nifong 7.07% 10,604
Ryan Davis 5.98% 8,970
Denise McLemore 5.59% 8,386
Write-in votes 0.22% 334
Total Votes (100) 149,940
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Official General Election Results-Davidson," accessed December 5, 2016

Candidates

Alan Beck Green check mark transparent.png Phillip Craver Green check mark transparent.png Jenny Ball Kristie Bonnett Green check mark transparent.png Mary Brown
  • Incumbent
  • Incumbent
Denise McLemore Samantha Ogle Nick Atkins Ryan Davis Josh Nifong

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: North Carolina elections, 2016

The following offices shared primary, general or both election dates with the school board elections in Davidson County:

Note: The date for North Carolina's congressional primary was June 7, 2016. This primary was originally scheduled for March 15, 2016.

Key deadlines

Deadline Event
March 7, 2016 First quarter campaign finance deadline
July 12, 2016 Second quarter campaign finance deadline
July 29, 2016 Candidate filing deadline
October 31, 2016 Third quarter campaign finance deadline
November 8, 2016 General Election Day
January 11, 2017 Fourth quarter campaign finance deadline

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

The Davidson County Board of Elections did not publish campaign finance reports on its website as of November 3, 2016.[4]

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016
Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png

School board candidates in North Carolina were required to file campaign finance reports to their county's board of elections unless the candidate:

(1) Did not receive more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in contributions, and

(2) Did not receive more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in loans, and

(3) Did not spend more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).[5]

The third quarter campaign finance deadline was October 31, 2016, and the fourth quarter deadline was January 11, 2017.[6]

Past elections

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

Candidate Connection Logo - stacked.png

Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey.
Click here to view or fill out the survey.

2016

Issues in the district

Transgender bathroom law
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R)

North Carolina passed the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (HB 2) which stated that individuals in government-operated facilities had to use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender stated on their birth certificate on March 23, 2016. The law was passed by the legislature in a one-day special session and was signed into law that night by Governor Pat McCrory (R). The bill reversed an earlier ruling that allowed transgender individuals to use the restroom of their preference, and it offset local ordinances in the state that let transgender citizens do so.[7]

On March 30, 2017, the North Carolina State Legislature approved and Gov. Roy Cooper (D) signed a repeal of HB 2. HB 142 repealed HB 2 but created a three-year moratorium on local anti-discrimination ordinances and prohibited local ordinances related to bathroom access.[8] The state house approved HB 142 by a 70-48 vote and the state senate voted 32-16 to pass the measure.[9]

HB 2's effect on NC school districts

When HB 2 was signed into law, many school districts in the state struggled to formulate a response, especially since Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. North Carolina school districts were unsure of how to balance these two laws. In the Wake County Public School System, Wake County sheriff Donnie Harrison said he would consider pulling deputies out of schools if the district did not decide on a consistent transgender bathroom policy. Harrison said the district did not have a uniform policy on the use of bathrooms by transgender students, which was causing confusion and unease among parents.[10][11]

Wake County logo.png

According to Lisa Luten, a Wake County Public School System spokesperson, transgender student issues with bathrooms and locker rooms were handled on a case-by-case basis. "No child has ever been at risk based on how we have handled this issue,” Luten said. “Because this issue is still being debated in federal courts, the school system is unable to create a formal policy.”[10] (Note: The court ruling on HB 2 was made on March 30, 2017.) The district's superintendent James Merrill said that transgender bathroom questions ought to be addressed by administrators rather than student resource officers. According to Nathan Smith, the director of public policy for the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, the consequence is that many schools decide their transgender bathroom policies on a case-by-case basis, leading to conflicting rules between school campuses.[10][12]

Backlash

On July 21, 2016, the NBA announced it planned to move its All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina, which was scheduled to be held there in 2017. According to the Charlotte Observer, this decision would cost the city approximately $100 million. On September 12, 2016, the NCAA moved seven championships that were scheduled to be held in the state during the 2016-2017 school year. Two days later, the Atlantic Coast Conference made a similar decision, revealing it planned to move the men's football championship game scheduled for December 2016 from Charlotte.

Want to see how this election related to state and national trends on this topic? Ballotpedia tracked this issue in the 2016 election cycle so you can see the connections and impact on this race in context.

Click here for The Bite on this topic.


About the district

See also: Davidson County Schools, North Carolina
Davidson County Schools is located in Davidson County, North Carolina.

Davidson County Schools is located in the county of the same name in North Carolina. The county seat is Lexington. Davidson County was home to 164,622 residents between 2010 and 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[13] The district was the 19th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 19,897 students.[14]

Demographics

Davidson County underperformed in comparison to North Carolina as a whole in terms of higher education attainment from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 17.9 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 27.8 percent of state residents. The median household income in the county was $42,866, compared to $46,693 for the state. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 16.9 percent, while that rate was 17.2 percent for state residents.[13]

Racial Demographics, 2015[13]
Race Davidson County (%) North Carolina (%)
White 86.6 71.2
Black or African American 9.6 22.1
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8 1.6
Asian 1.5 2.8
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.1 0.1
Two or More Races 1.5 2.1
Hispanic or Latino 6.9 9.1

Davidson County Party Affiliation, 2014[15]
Party Registered Voters % of Total
Republican 47,740 46.0
Democratic 30,018 28.9
Libertarian 351 0.3
Unaffiliated 25,654 24.7

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 'Davidson County Schools' 'North Carolina'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

Davidson County Schools North Carolina School Boards
School Board badge.png
Seal of North Carolina.png
School Board badge.png

External links

Footnotes

  1. Davidson County, North Carolina Board of Elections, "Candidate Filed Info," accessed August 1, 2016
  2. North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Unofficial General Election Results-Davidson," accessed November 8, 2016
  3. North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Petition Information," accessed August 2, 2016
  4. Davidson County, "Board of Elections," accessed November 3, 2016
  5. General Assembly of North Carolina, "Chapter 163: Elections And Election Laws, Article 22A - Regulating Contributions and Expenditures in Political Campaigns," accessed February 11, 2016
  6. North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Reporting Schedules," accessed October 11, 2016
  7. Charlotte Observer, "Understanding HB2: North Carolina’s newest law solidifies state’s role in defining discrimination," March 26, 2016
  8. ABC 11, "GOV. COOPER SIGNS NORTH CAROLINA'S HB2 COMPROMISE BILL," March 30, 2017
  9. NBC News, "HB2 Repeal: North Carolina Legislature Votes to Overturn Controversial ‘Bathroom Bill’," March 30, 2017
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Daily Tarheel, "Wake County sheriff calls for consistent transgender bathroom policy," September 29, 2016
  11. CBS North Carolina, "Wake sheriff threatens to pull deputies over transgender bathroom policy," September 27, 2016
  12. The News & Observer, "Four things to remember about House Bill 2," September 13, 2016
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 United States Census Bureau, "Davidson County, North Carolina," accessed August 2, 2016
  14. National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
  15. North Carolina State Board of Elections, "NC Voter Statistics Results," accessed August 14, 2014