Desert Sands Unified School District elections (2014)

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2014 Desert Sands Unified School District Elections

General Election date:
November 4, 2014
Table of Contents
About the district
Method of election
Elections
What was at stake?
Key deadlines
Additional elections
External links
See also
California
Desert Sands Unified School District
Riverside County, California ballot measures
Local ballot measures, California
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Two seats on the Desert Sands Unified School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 4, 2014. In the Trustee Area 2 race, incumbent Donald B. Griffith won re-election against challenger Clark McCartney. Incumbent Michael Alexander Duran ran unopposed and won the Trustee Area 5 seat.[1]

The 2014 general election was the first time the Desert Sands Unified School District elected members from trustee areas. Prior to this election, board of education members were elected at-large.[2]

About the district

See also: Desert Sands Unified School District, California
Desert Sands Unified School District is located in Riverside County, California.

Desert Sands Unified School District is located in Riverside County, California. The county seat of Riverside County is Riverside. Riverside County was home to 2,292,507 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[3] In the 2011-2012 school year, Desert Sands Unified School District was the 37th-largest school district in California and served 29,199 students.[4]

Demographics

Riverside County underperformed compared to the rest of California in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 20.5 percent of Riverside County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 30.5 percent for California as a whole. The median household income for Riverside County was $57,096 compared to $61,400 for the entire state. The percentage of people below poverty level for Riverside County was 15.6 percent while it was 15.3 percent statewide.[3]

Racial Demographics, 2013[3]
Race Riverside County (%) California (%)
White 80.7 73.5
Black or African American 7.0 6.6
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.9 1.7
Asian 6.7 14.1
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0.4 0.5
Two or more races 3.3 3.7
Hispanic or Latino 46.9 38.4

Presidential Voting Pattern, Riverside County[5]
Year Democratic Vote Republican Vote
2012 329,063 318,127
2008 325,017 310,041
2004 228,806 322,473
2000 202,614 232,029

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.

Voter and candidate information

The Desert Sands Unified School District Board of Education consists of five members elected to four-year terms by specific geographic districts. This was the first year board of education members were elected by geographic district.[2] There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 4, 2014. Two seats were up for election in 2014, and three seats were up for election in 2016.[1]

School board candidates had to file with their county elections department during the candidate filing period. The filing period began July 14, 2014, and ended August 8, 2014. To vote in the 2014 general election, voters had to register by October 20, 2014. Voters could request vote-by-mail ballots from October 6, 2014, through October 28, 2014.[6]

Elections

2014

Candidates

Trustee Area 2

  • Donald B. Griffith Green check mark transparent.png
    • Incumbent
    • Graduate, California State University at Fullerton and California Southern Law School
    • Attorney
    • Retired educator
  • Clark McCartney
    • Retired educator

Trustee Area 5

Election results

Trustee Area 2
Desert Sands Unified School District,
Trustee Area 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngDonald B. Griffith Incumbent 61.6% 5,593
     Nonpartisan Clark McCartney 38.4% 3,482
Total Votes 9,075
Source: Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Consolidated General Election, November 4, 2014," accessed December 22, 2014
Trustee Area 5

This election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Trustee Area 5 incumbent Michael Alexander Duran won re-election by default.

Endorsements

Trustee Area 2 incumbent Donald B. Griffith received the endorsement of The Desert Sun.[7] His challenger Clark McCartney received endorsements from the Riverside County Democratic Party and the Central Labor Council of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.[8][9]

Campaign finance

Candidates had to file contribution reports within 24 hours of receiving an aggregate total of $1,000 or more from a single source. The first scheduled pre-election report filing deadline was October 6, 2014. If candidates raised or spent less than $1,000 during the 2013 and 2014 calendar years, they had to file Form 470 at that time. If candidates raised or spent more during that time, they had to file Form 460 by the pre-election report filing deadline.[10]

Candidates required to file Form 460 also had to file a second pre-election report on October 23, 2014, and they had to file termination reports by December 31, 2014. If a termination report was not filed, candidates had to file a semi-annual report by February 2, 2015.[10]

Reports

Only Clark McCartney reported any contributions and expenditures to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters. The other two candidates filed Form 470, indicating they did not intend to raise or spend more than $1,000 for their 2014 campaigns. Because of this, they did not have to file any additional campaign finance reports.[11][12][13]

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Donald B. Griffith $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Clark McCartney $620.00 $601.00 $19.00
Michael Alexander Duran $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Past elections

What was at stake?

Issues in the district

District named in student exercise lawsuit

Desert Sands Unified School District, along with 36 other school districts across the state, was named in a lawsuit alleging the district's students were not getting enough exercise. The state mandated that schools give students in kindergarten through sixth grade 200 minutes of exercise every 10 days of class, in addition to lunch and recess. The lawsuit was filed by Marc Babin and the nonprofit organization Cal200, which he headed.[14] An attorney for districts named in the case said Babin did not have a relationship with Desert Sands Unified School District before filing the lawsuit.[15]

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Desert Sands Unified School District election in 2014:[10][16]

Deadline Event
July 14, 2014 First day for candidates to file nomination documents
August 8, 2014 Last day for candidates to file nomination documents
October 6, 2014 First day to request vote-by-mail ballot
October 6, 2014 First pre-election report due
October 20, 2014 Last day to register to vote
October 23, 2014 Second pre-election report due
October 28, 2014 Last day to request vote-by-mail ballot
November 4, 2014 Election Day
December 31, 2014 Termination report due
February 2, 2015 Semi-annual report due

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: California elections, 2014

This election shared the ballot with general elections for several state executive offices, four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, one state Senate seat, seven state Assembly seats, six statewide ballot measures and a number of municipal elections. Measure KK, a $225 million general obligation bond for the Desert Sands Unified School District, was also on the general election ballot.[17][18]

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Desert + Sands + Unified + School + District + California"

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List Consolidated General Election," accessed September 9, 2014
  2. 2.0 2.1 Riverside County Office of Education, "Desert Sands Unified shifts from at-large voting to avoid lawsuit," October 15, 2013
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census Bureau, "Riverside County, California," accessed July 3, 2014
  4. National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
  5. County of Riverside Registrar of Voters, "Past Elections," accessed July 3, 2014
  6. California Secretary of State, "Summary of November 4, 2014, General Election Calendar," accessed July 14, 2014
  7. The Desert Sun, "Our Voice: Griffith should remainon Desert Sands board," September 18, 2014
  8. Riverside County Democratic Party, "2014 RCDP Non-Partisan Endorsements," accessed October 29, 2014
  9. Central Labor Council of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, "COPE Endorsed List 2014," accessed October 29, 2014
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 4, 2014," accessed August 19, 2014
  11. Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Viewing filing activity for Griffith, Donald," accessed October 29, 2014
  12. Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Viewing filing activity for Duran, Michael Alexander," accessed October 29, 2014
  13. Email correspondence between Ballotpedia and the Riverside County Registrar of Voters
  14. Channel 3 News, "Local school districts face lawsuit over PE teachings," August 6, 2014
  15. The Desert Sun, "Mystery group sues over school physical education," July 8, 2014
  16. Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Uniform District Election Law November 4, 2014," accessed July 3, 2014
  17. Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Consolidated Primary election June 3, 2014 Official Final Results," accessed July 7, 2014
  18. Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Tentative Annual Election Calendar Riverside County 2014," accessed September 2, 2014