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Downingtown Area School District elections (2017)

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Downingtown Area School District Elections
Primary election date
May 16, 2017
General election date
November 7, 2017
Enrollment (14-15)
12,070 students

Four of the nine seats on the Downingtown Area School District school board were up for by-district general election on November 7, 2017. A partisan primary election was held on May 16, 2017.

Region 2 incumbent David Kring cross-filed for re-election as both a Democrat and a Republican and ran unopposed in the primary and the general. Region 4 board member Rodney Simon II cross-filed for re-election and faced cross-filed candidates Rebecca Britton and Deanie Gauntlett in the primary. Britton won the Democratic nomination and Simon won the Republican nomination. Britton then defeated Simon in the general election. Region 6 incumbent Suzanne DiVito Simonelli cross-filed for re-election and ran in the primary without facing formal opposition. She won the Republican nomination and write-in candidate Lee Ann Wisdom won the Democratic nomination. Wisdom went on to defeat the incumbent in the general election. Region 8 incumbent Barbara Albright filed for re-election as a Republican and faced no opposition in the primary or general election.[1][2][3][4]

These candidates could have faced independent candidates in the general election. However, no independent candidate filed by the August 1, 2017, deadline to get on the ballot.[5]

Elections

Voter and candidate information

DASD logo.png

The Downingtown Area school board is composed of nine members elected by district to four-year, staggered terms. Five seats were up for election on November 3, 2015, and four seats were up for election on November 7, 2017.

Cross-filing

Pennsylvania permits school board candidates to cross-file in primary elections. This means that a candidate may file to run in the primary election for both the Democratic and Republican parties. A cross-filed candidate can advance to the general election by winning one or both of the partisan primaries. This maximizes a candidate’s chances of advancing to the general as they have two ways to win in the primary round. If the candidate wins only one, they face the winner of the other primary in the general election. Cross-filers who win both primaries may still face independent candidates in the general election.

General candidate requirements

To run for a school board in Pennsylvania, one must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old, and a resident of the school district for at least one year before the election date. To run in this 2017 school board election, partisan candidates had to file for office by March 7, 2017, and independent candidates had to file by August 1, 2017.[6][7]

Voter requirements

To vote in Pennsylvania, a resident must be a U.S. citizen for at least one month and a resident of the district in which he or she is registering for at least 30 days before the election. A voter must be at least 18 years of age by the next election date. The deadline to register to vote before the primary election was April 17, 2017, and the deadline to register to vote before the general election was October 10, 2017.[8]

See also: Voting in Pennsylvania and Voter identification laws by state


Candidates and results

Region 2 general

Results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic/Republican Green check mark transparent.png David Kring Incumbent (unopposed) 99.41% 1,521
Write-in votes 0.59% 9
Total Votes 1,530
Source: Chester County Pennsylvania, "November 7, 2017 Municipal Election Results - Cumulative Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Candidates

Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party David Kring Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent
  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Region 4 general

Results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Rebecca Britton 63.12% 1,241
     Republican Rodney Simon II Incumbent 36.72% 722
Write-in votes 0.15% 3
Total Votes 1,966
Source: Chester County Pennsylvania, "November 7, 2017 Municipal Election Results - Cumulative Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Candidates

Republican Party Rodney Simon II Democratic Party Rebecca Britton Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent
  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican in primary

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican in primary

Region 6 general

Results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Lee Ann Wisdom 54.04% 936
     Republican Suzanne DiVito Simonelli Incumbent 45.67% 791
Write-in votes 0.29% 5
Total Votes 1,732
Source: Chester County Pennsylvania, "November 7, 2017 Municipal Election Results - Cumulative Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Candidates

Republican Party Suzanne DiVito Simonelli Democratic Party Lee Ann Wisdom Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent
  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican in primary

Placeholder image.png

  • Write-in candidate

Region 8 general

Results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 8 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Barbara Albright Incumbent (unopposed) 89.74% 936
Write-in votes 10.26% 107
Total Votes 1,043
Source: Chester County Pennsylvania, "November 7, 2017 Municipal Election Results - Cumulative Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Candidates

Republican Party Barbara Albright Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent

Region 2 primary

Democratic results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 2 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png David Kring Incumbent (unopposed) 98.08% 204
Write-in votes 1.92% 4
Total Votes 208
Source: Chester County, "Official Results," accessed June 20, 2017

Republican results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 2 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png David Kring Incumbent (unopposed) 98.97% 383
Write-in votes 1.03% 4
Total Votes 387
Source: Chester County, "Official Results," accessed June 20, 2017

Region 4 primary

Democratic results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 4 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Rebecca Britton 77.04% 302
     Democratic Deanie Gauntlett 15.82% 62
     Democratic Rodney Simon II Incumbent 5.87% 23
Write-in votes 1.28% 5
Total Votes 392
Source: Chester County, "Official Results," accessed June 20, 2017

Republican results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 4 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Rodney Simon II Incumbent 48.37% 163
     Republican Rebecca Britton 33.23% 112
     Republican Deanie Gauntlett 18.10% 61
Write-in votes 0.3% 1
Total Votes 337
Source: Chester County, "Official Results," accessed June 20, 2017

Defeated in primary

Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Deanie Gauntlett

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Region 6 primary

Democratic results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 6 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Lee Ann Wisdom 65.42% 157
     Democratic Suzanne DiVito Simonelli Incumbent 34.58% 83
Total Votes 240
Source: Chester County, "Official Results," accessed June 20, 2017

Republican results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 6 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Suzanne DiVito Simonelli Incumbent (unopposed) 93.24% 138
Write-in votes 6.76% 10
Total Votes 148
Source: Chester County, "Official Results," accessed June 20, 2017

Region 8 primary

Republican results

Downingtown Area School District,
Region 8 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Barbara Albright Incumbent (unopposed) 98.17% 376
Write-in votes 1.83% 7
Total Votes 383
Source: Chester County, "Official Results," accessed June 20, 2017

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2017

The Downingtown Area School District general election shared the ballot with elections for:[5]

The Downingtown Area School District primary election shared the ballot with primary elections for:[9]

  • State judges
  • County treasurer
  • County controller
  • Clerk of courts
  • Coroner
  • Mayor
  • City council
  • Tax collector
  • Judge of elections
  • Inspector of elections

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for this Pennsylvania school board election in 2017:[10]

Deadline Event
March 7, 2017 Partisan candidate filing deadline
April 17, 2017 Deadline to register to vote before the primary election
May 16, 2017 Primary election day
August 1, 2017 Independent candidate filing deadline
October 10, 2017 Deadline to register to vote before the general election
November 7, 2017 General election day

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

Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png
See also: Campaign finance requirements in Pennsylvania and List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2017
2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Pennsylvania[11]
Date Deadline
May 5, 2017 2nd Friday Pre-Primary report due
June 15, 2017 30-Day Post-Primary report due
October 27, 2017 2nd Friday Pre-Election report due
December 7, 2017 30-Day Post-Election report due

School board candidates in Pennsylvania were required to report their campaign finance activity. Those who spent or received more than $250 in a reporting period had to file full reports. Those below the threshold had to file forms to declare they were exempt from reporting. Candidates could have, but were not required to, form committees to handle campaign finance transactions. They were not required to have separate bank accounts for campaign purposes.[12]

The table to the left details the four campaign finance deadlines in 2017.[11]

Past elections

What was at stake?

Report a story for this election

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Candidate survey

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About the district

See also: Downingtown Area School District, Pennsylvania
Downingtown Area School District is located in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Downingtown Area School District is located in Chester County in south-eastern Pennsylvania. The seat of county government is West Chester. The county was home to an estimated 516,312 residents between 2010 and 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the ninth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 12,070 students.[13][14]

Demographics

Chester County outperformed Pennsylvania as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 49.1 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had obtained their bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 28.6 percent for all state residents. The median household income in the county was $85,976, compared to $53,599 for the entire state. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 6.0 percent, while that rate was 13.2 percent for all state residents.[14]

Racial Demographics, 2015[14]
Race Chester County (%) Pennsylvania (%)
White 86.4 82.6
Black or African American 6.4 11.7
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3 0.4
Asian 5.1 3.4
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.1 0.1
Two or More Races 1.8 1.9
Hispanic or Latino 7.3 6.8

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 Downingtown Area School District Pennsylvania election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Downingtown Area School District elections (2017) - Google News

See also

Downingtown Area School District Pennsylvania School Boards
School Board badge.png
Seal of Pennsylvania.png
School Board badge.png

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Chester County, "Unofficial Results," accessed May 16, 2017
  2. ↑ Chester County, "May 16, 2017 Municipal Primary Election Candidate Report," accessed May 11, 2017
  3. ↑ Chester County, "Write-In Winners," accessed June 19, 2017
  4. ↑ Chester County Pennsylvania, "November 7, 2017 Municipal Election Results - Cumulative Results," accessed November 8, 2017
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chester County, "Official Candidate Report for Chester County, Pennsylvania," accessed October 25, 2017
  6. ↑ Pennsylvania School Boards Association, "How to Run for School Board," accessed March 21, 2017
  7. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 21, 2017
  8. ↑ VotesPA, "How to Register," accessed June 10, 2014
  9. ↑ Chester County, "May 16, 2017 Municipal Primary Election Candidate Report for Chester County, PA," accessed March 30, 2017
  10. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 30, 2017
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed April 19, 2017
  12. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Campaign Finance Reporting Law," accessed January 15, 2014
  13. ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 United States Census Bureau, "Chester County, Pennsylvania," accessed March 27, 2017
Downingtown Area School District elections in 2017
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Election date:Primary: May 16, 2017
General: November 7, 2017
Candidates:Region 2: Incumbent, David Kring (D/R)

Region 4: Incumbent, Rodney Simon II (R) • Rebecca Britton (D) • Deanie Gauntlett (D/R)
Region 6: Incumbent, Suzanne DiVito Simonelli (R) • Lee Ann Wisdom (D)

Region 8: Incumbent, Barbara Albright (R)
Important information:What was at stake?
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