Dysart Unified School District elections (2014)

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2014 Dysart Unified School District Elections
General Election date:
November 4, 2014
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
Arizona Dysart Unified School District Maricopa County, Arizona ballot measures Local ballot measures, Arizona

Three seats on the Dysart Unified School District Governing Board were up for general election on November 4, 2014.

Two of the seats up for election were four year terms. Spencer Bailey challenged incumbents Traci Sawyer-Sinkbeil and Blossom Tande in their re-election bids. Incumbent Traci Sawyer-Sinkbeil and challenger Spencer Bailey won the four-year terms.

The third seat was a two-year term to fill a vacancy on the board. Nanette Burnett, Ruth Butler and Suzanne Kellis were the candidates for the two-year term. Burnett originally filed to run for a four-year term, but later withdrew from that race and filed as a write-in candidate for the two-year term seat. Kellis won the open seat.

About the district

See also: Dysart Unified School District, Arizona

Dysart Unified School District is located in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Dysart Unified School District is located in the city of Surprise, which lies in southwestern Arizona in Maricopa County. Phoenix is the county seat and state capital. In 2013, Maricopa County was home to 4,009,412 residents according to United States Census Bureau estimates. In the 2011-2012 school year, Dysart Unified School District was the 10th largest school district in Arizona and served 24,756 students.

Demographics

Maricopa County slightly overperformed compared to the rest of Arizona in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.5 percent of Maricopa County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 26.6 percent for Arizona as a whole. The median household income for the county was $54,385 compared to $50,256 statewide. The poverty rate in Maricopa County was 15.8 percent compared to 17.2 percent statewide.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Maricopa County (%)	Arizona (%)
White	84.7	84.0
Black or African American	5.7	4.6
American Indian and Alaska Native	2.7	5.3
Asian	4.0	3.2
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.3	0.3
Two or More Races	2.7	2.6
Hispanic or Latino	30.0	30.3

Presidential Voting Pattern, Maricopa County
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	602,288	749,885
2008	602,166	746,448
2004	504,849	679,455
2000	386,683	479,967

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 Dysart Unified School District Governing Board is composed of five at-large, nonpartisan members who are elected to four year terms. The board was operating with only four members following the death of board member Jerry Eynon. His vacancy was filled in this general election.

There was no primary election, and the general election was November 4, 2014. Arizona law required an automatic recount in the case of a tie. If a tie held, the winner would have been chosen by drawing lots in the presence of the candidates. There were no runoff elections. Members-elect for four-year terms assumed their board memberships on January 1, 2014. The winner of the two-year term assumed office as soon as the canvass of votes was completed.

Candidates were required to submit nominating petitions signed by qualified electors totaling 0.5 percent of the total voter registration in the school district to the county school superintendent between July 7, 2014, and August 6, 2014. For the 2014 general election, the number of required signatures was 400. The deadline for write-in candidates to file was September 25, 2014.

Nanette Burnett originally filed to run for a four-year term. However, she later withdrew from that race and ran as a write-in candidate for the two-year term, instead. Because she was the only candidate, the Maricopa County Education Service Agency asked the County Board of Supervisors to cancel the election for the seat. Then, the board of supervisors canceled the election for the position and appointed Burnett as if she were elected.

Voters were required to register by October 6, 2014, in order to vote in the general election. Early voting began October 9, 2014.

Elections

2014

Candidates

At-large

Four-year terms

• Traci Sawyer-Sinkbeil
  • Incumbent, first elected in 2010
  • B.S. in business and public administration, Ottawa University
  • MBA in business and human resource management, Ottawa University
• Blossom Tande
  • Incumbent, appointed in 2013
  • B.S. in management, California State Polytechnic University
  • M.S. in business, Kelly School of Business at Indiana University
  • Ed.D. in educational leadership (in progress), Grand Canyon University
  • CEO of Education Connection Solutions, LLC
  • Adjunct professor at Indiana University
• Spencer Bailey

Two-year term

• Nanette Burnett
  • Write-in candidate
• Ruth Butler
  • Write-in candidate
• Suzanne Kellis
  • Write-in candidate

Election results

Four-year terms

Dysart Unified School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Spencer Bailey	36.5%	14,507
	Nonpartisan	Traci Sawyer-Sinkbeil Incumbent	32.8%	13,042
	Nonpartisan	Blossom Tande Incumbent	30.8%	12,240
Total Votes				39,789
Source: Maricopa County Recorder/Elections Office, "2014 General Election Results," accessed December 20, 2014

Two-year term

Dysart Unified School District, At-Large General Election, 2-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Suzanne Kellis Write-in candidate	61.7%	621
	Nonpartisan	Nanette Burnett Write-in candidate	37.6%	378
	Nonpartisan	Ruth Butler Write-in candidate	0.7%	7
Total Votes				1,006
Source: Maricopa County Recorder/Elections Office, "Official Write in Results Summary," accessed December 20, 2014

Endorsements

None of the candidates received any official endorsements.

Campaign finance

No contributions or expenditures were reported during the election, according to the Maricopa County Recorder's office.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2012 Dysart Unified School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Jennifer Tanner 30.6% 25,709      Nonpartisan Bonnie Schroader 27.6% 23,200      Nonpartisan Jerry Eynon 20.7% 17,404      Nonpartisan Micheleann Caruso 20.6% 17,299 Total Votes 84,031 Source: Maricopa County Recorder, "General Election November 6, 2012, Final Official Results," November 20, 2012 2010 Dysart Unified School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Christine A. K. Pritchard 42.2% 19,481      Nonpartisan Traci Sawyer-Sinkbeil 28.8% 13,272      Nonpartisan Jerry Eynon 28.4% 13,108      Nonpartisan Write-in candidates 0.6% 256 Total Votes 46,117 Source: Maricopa County Recorder, "General Election November 2, 2010, Final Official Results," November 17, 2010

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Alhambra Elementary School District election in 2014.

Deadline	Event
January 31, 2014	Campaign finance report due
June 30, 2014	Campaign finance report due
July 7, 2014	First day to file petitions
August 6, 2014	Last day to file petitions
September 25, 2014	Last day to file as a write-in candidate
October 6, 2014	Last day to register to vote in general election
October 9, 2014	Early voting begins
October 31, 2014	Pre-general election campaign finance report due
November 4, 2014	Election Day
December 1, 2014	Official canvass of election results due
December 4, 2014	Post-general election campaign finance report due

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Arizona elections, 2014

This election shared the ballot with general elections for Arizona's 1st, 2nd and 9th Congressional Districts, as well as eight state executive offices, the state senate, the state house of representatives, three statewide ballot measures, municipal elections and judicial elections.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Dysart + Unified + School + District + Arizona"

Dysart Unified School District News Feed

See also

• Arizona
• Dysart Unified School District, Arizona
• Arizona school board elections, 2014
• List of school board elections in 2014
• School board elections, 2014
• Maricopa County, Arizona ballot measures
• Local ballot measures, Arizona

External links

Suggest a link

• Dysart Unified School District
• Maricopa County Elections Department