Downey Unified School District elections (2015)
2017 →
← 2013
|
 |
Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links |
Downey Unified School District Los Angeles County, California ballot measures Local ballot measures, California |
 |
Four seats on the Downey Unified School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015. The seats from Trustee Areas 2, 3, 4 and 6 were on the ballot.[1][2]
Incumbent Tod Corrin ran unopposed and won re-election to the Trustee Area 2 seat. In Trustee Area 3, incumbent Willie Gutierrez defeated challenger Claudia Medina. Donald La Plante won re-election in Trustee Area 4 race by defeating challengers Maria Avalos and Linda Salomon Saldana. Incumbent D. Mark Morris defeated challenger Vanessa Rodriguez in Trustee Area 6.[3][4]
See how this race compared to past school board elections in both the district and the state in the "Election trends" section.
About the district
Downey Unified School District is located in Los Angeles County in southwestern California. The county seat is Los Angeles.[5] Los Angeles County was home to 10,116,705 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[6] During the 2012-2013 school year, Downey Unified School District was the 60th-largest school district by enrollment in California and served 22,848 students.[7]
Demographics
Los Angeles County underperformed compared to the rest of California in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 30.7 percent for California as a whole. The median household income for Los Angeles County was $55,909, compared to $61,094 for the entire state. The percentage of people below the poverty level was 17.8 percent, compared to 15.9 percent statewide.[6]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Downey Unified Board of Education consists of seven members elected geographically by district to four-year terms. Board members are elected on a staggered basis every November of odd-numbered years. There are no primary elections. The Trustee Area 1, 5 and 7 seats were up for election on November 5, 2013, and the Trustee Area 2, 3, 4, and 6 seats were on the ballot on November 3, 2015.[1][9]
School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, residents of the school district and qualified voters. They could not be employees of the school district while in office.[10] To get on the ballot, candidates had to file their declaration of candidacy with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk by August 7, 2015.[11]
To vote in this election, residents of the district had to register by October 19, 2015. Voters could cast vote-by-mail ballots from October 24, 2015, through Election Day.[11] Photo identification was not required to vote in California.
Elections
2015
Candidates
Trustee Area 2
Election results
Incumbent Tod Corrin ran unopposed in this election. He won another term by default.
Candidates
Tod Corrin 
| |
|---|---|
|
|
|
Trustee Area 3
Election results
| Downey Unified School District, Trustee Area 3, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Willie Gutierrez Incumbent |
72.3% | 486 |
| Claudia Medina | 27.7% | 186 |
| Total Votes | 672 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015 | ||
Candidates
| Willie Gutierrez
|
Claudia Medina | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
Trustee Area 4
Election results
| Downey Unified School District, Trustee Area 4, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Donald La Plante Incumbent |
51.7% | 390 |
| Linda Salomon Saldana | 30.6% | 231 |
| Maria Avalos | 17.6% | 133 |
| Total Votes | 754 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015 | ||
Candidates
| Donald La Plante
|
Maria Avalos | Linda Salomon Saldana | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trustee Area 6
Election results
| Downey Unified School District, Trustee Area 6, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| D. Mark Morris Incumbent |
58.2% | 166 |
| Vanessa Rodriguez | 41.8% | 119 |
| Total Votes | 285 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015 | ||
Candidates
| D. Mark Morris
|
Vanessa Rodriguez | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
Endorsements
All four incumbents in this race—Tod Corrin, Willie Gutierrez, Donald La Plante and D. Mark Morris—were endorsed by the Downey Education Association (DEA).[12] Challenger Maria Avalos received endorsements from the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO and the community organization Evolve.[13][14][15]
Campaign finance
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[16][17][18]
Campaign finance reporting requirements in California vary depending on how much money candidates spend or raise. For candidates planning to raise or spend less than $1,000, an Officeholder and Candidate Campaign Statement Short Form (Form 470) must be filed with their county or city elections office. If candidates plan to spend up to $1,000, including their own funds, they must also file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501). "If a candidate does not raise any money and personal funds are used only to pay filing or ballot statement fees, the candidate is not required to file the Form 501," according to the Fair Political Practices Commission. If candidates raise money outside of their own funds, a separate campaign bank account must be established.[19]
Candidates raising or spending more than $1,000, including their personal funds, must file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501), file a Statement of Organization (Form 410) and establish a separate bank account for campaign funds. They must then file Recipient Committee Campaign Statements (Form 460) to disclose their contributions and expenditures throughout their campaigns. If they receive more than $1,000 from a single source within 90 days of the election, they must file a 24-hour Contribution Report (Form 497).[19]
If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013
2011Four seats from Trustee Areas 2, 3, 4, and 6 were up for election on November 8, 2011. Tod Corrin, Willie Gutierrez, Donald La Plante, and D. Mark Morris were all unopposed in their respective districts and won uncontested elections. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
2015
Election trends
- See also: 2013 school board elections
With four seats on the ballot on November 3, 2015, over half of the Downey Unified Board of Education had the opportunity to change hands. One incumbent, however, ran unopposed, which gave newcomers only three chances to get on the board. All four incumbents ran to retain their seats. One was unopposed, one faced two challengers, and two ran against one challenger each. All four incumbents won re-election to the board.
In 2013, all three incumbents ran for re-election, and all three won additional terms. Two incumbents faced one challenger each in that election, and one ran against three challengers.
In both the 2013 and 2015 races, more candidates ran per seat than the 2014 state average of 1.91 candidates running per seat up for election in California's largest school districts. That year, just over 25 percent of board seats in those districts were unopposed, and 37.65 percent of seats went to newcomers.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Downey Unified School District election in 2015:[11][20]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| June 8, 2015 - August 7, 2015 | Candidate filing period |
| July 31, 2015 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
| August 5, 2015 - November 2, 2015 | 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period |
| September 7, 2015 - October 20, 2015 | Write-in candidate filing period |
| September 24, 2015 | Pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 19, 2015 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 22, 2015 | Pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 24, 2015 | First day voters can cast vote-by-mail ballots |
| November 3, 2015 | Election Day |
| February 1, 2016 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2015
No elections shared the ballot with the Downey Unified School District. A number of other school districts in Los Angeles County, however, also held school board elections on November 3, 2015.[21]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Downey Unified School District California. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Downey Unified School District | California | School Boards |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “2015 Scheduled Elections,” accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “Running for Office,” accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate List: Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed August 11, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Semi-Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 4, 2015
- ↑ Geology.com, "California County Map with County Seat Cities," accessed July 1, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 United States Census Bureau, "Los Angeles County, California," accessed January 13, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Past Election Results," accessed July 1, 2014
- ↑ Downey Unified School District, "Board Members," accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Downey Unified School District, "Bylaws of the Board of Education: Board Policy 8000 Series," accessed August 6, 2015
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Calendar of Events," accessed July 29, 2015
- ↑ The Downey Patriot, "LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Teachers endorse DUSD incumbents," August 4, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Democratic Party, "Endorsements," accessed October 27, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, "Endorsements," accessed October 27, 2015
- ↑ Evolve, "2015 Endorsements: November 03, 2015 Election," accessed October 27, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Fair Political Practices Commission, "Local Candidates, Superior Court Judges, Their Controlled Committees, and Primarily Formed Committees for Local Candidates: Campaign Disclosure Manual 2," accessed August 5, 2015
- ↑ Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 3, 2015," accessed August 5, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed July 29, 2015
