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East Baton Rouge Parish School System special elections (2017)
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One of nine seats on the East Baton Rouge Parish School System school board in Louisiana was up for by-district special election. The primary election for the District 7 seat was scheduled for October 14, 2017.[1] Appointed board member Michael Gaudet defeated challengers Brian Adams and Belinda Davis in the race for the District 7 seat.[2]
The former District 7 representative, Barbara Freiberg, resigned from her position on the board after she was elected to the Metro Council District 12 seat in Baton Rouge. The board appointed Michael Gaudet to the District 7 seat to serve in her place until the special election on October 14, 2017.[3]
Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The East Baton Rouge Parish School System school board consists of nine partisan members who serve four-year terms. All of the members are elected concurrently by district. This means that regular school board elections are held every four years with all nine members being up for re-election at that time. One of nine seats was up for special election on October 14, 2017. Candidates for the District 7 seat had to qualify for the race between July 12, 2017, and July 14, 2017.[1]
All vacancies on the board are filled by appointment by the East Baton Rouge Parish school board for the remainder of the unexpired term of the vacated seat. If the unexpired term is longer than one year, a special election must be called. The appointed member serves until a successor is elected and has taken the prescribed oath of office.[4] The power to fill vacancies on the board derives from Article VI, Section 13 of the Louisiana Constitution.
Starting with terms beginning on or after January 2015, board members are term limited. Any member who, at the end of his or her term, has served more than two and one-half terms in the last three consecutive terms cannot be re-elected in the following term. However, they can be re-elected following a one term break. The limit does not apply retroactively.
District 7
Results
| East Baton Rouge Parish School System, District 7 Primary Election, 1-year term, 2017 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Michael Gaudet Incumbent |
60.84% | 2,515 | |
| Democratic | Belinda Davis | 34.35% | 1,420 | |
| Democratic | Brian Adams | 4.81% | 199 | |
| Total Votes | 4,134 | |||
| Source: Geaux Vote, "Official Results - East Baton Rouge Parish," accessed October 30, 2017 | ||||
Candidates
 Michael Gaudet 
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 Brian Adams
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Belinda Davis
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Louisiana elections, 2017
The East Baton Rouge Parish School System school board special election shared the ballot with the parish's treasurer, city court judge, and public service commissioner and Louisiana representatives in Districts 58 and 77.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for this Louisiana school board election in 2017:[1]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| July 14, 2017 | Candidate filing deadline |
| September 13, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote in-person or by mail |
| September 23, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote online |
| September 30, 2017 | Early voting begins |
| October 7, 2017 | Early voting ends |
| October 10, 2017 | Deadline to request a mail-in ballot |
| October 14, 2017 | Special primary election |
| November 18, 2017 | Possible special general election |
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
All school board candidates for the East Baton Rouge school board must file campaign finance reports electronically. To file electronically, candidates must return an affidavit five days before the first campaign finance report is due.[5]
If within 20 days of an election a candidate receives more than $500 or spends more than $200 in a single transaction, the candidate must file a special report within 48 hours. Additionally, if the candidate spends money on or for election day (e.g. pays for an ad that runs on election day), the candidate is required to file an Election Day Expenditure Report within 10 days of the election.[6]
| 2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Louisiana[6] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Period covered | Deadline |
| September 14, 2017 | Date of first contribution or expenditure - September 4, 2017 | 30th day prior to primary election report due |
| October 4, 2017 | September 5, 2017 - September 24, 2017 | 10th day prior to primary election report due |
| November 8, 2017 | September 25, 2017 - October 29, 2017 | 10th day prior to general election report due |
| December 28, 2017 | October 29, 2017 - December 18, 2017 | 40th day after general election report due |
Past elections
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2016District 4
2014District 1
District 2
District 3Kenyetta Nelson-Smith (D) was re-elected to the District 3 seat on September 5, 2014, when challenger Eugene Weatherspoon (D) withdrew from the race. District 4
District 5
District 6District 10 incumbent Jill Dyason (R) was elected without opposition to the District 6 seat on September 9, 2014, when challenger Tiffany Perkins (R) was disqualified from the race. District 7
District 8: Runoff
District 9District 1 incumbent David Tatman (R) was elected to the District 9 seat without opposition on August 22, 2014. 2010District 1David Tatman (R) won election unopposed.[7] District 2
District 3
District 4Tarvald Smith (D) won re-election unopposed.[7] District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9Brett Jackson (I) originally filed to run for the District 9 seat, but withdrew prior to the election.[7]
District 10Jill Dyason (R) won election without opposition.[7] District 11
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What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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About the district
East Baton Rouge Parish School System is located in eastern Louisiana in East Baton Rouge. East Baton Rouge Parish was home to 446,042 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[8] The East Baton Rouge Parish School System school district was the second-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 41,850 students.[9]
Demographics
East Baton Rouge Parish outperformed the state of Louisiana as a whole in terms of education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 34.2 percent of parish residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 21.8 percent of state residents. The median household income for the parish was $48,506, compared to $44,874 for the state of Louisiana. The percentage of people below poverty level for East Baton Rouge Parish was 19.2 percent, while it was 19.1 percent for the entire state.[8]
| Racial Demographics, 2014[8] | |||
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| Race | East Baton Rouge Parish (%) | Louisiana (%) | |
| White | 48.9 | 63.4 | |
| Black or African American | 46.2 | 32.5 | |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3 | 0.8 | |
| Asian | 3.3 | 1.8 | |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0.0 | 0.1 | |
| Two or more races | 1.3 | 1.5 | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 3.9 | 4.8 | |
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 East Baton Rouge Parish School System Louisiana special election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| East Baton Rouge Parish School System | Louisiana | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Louisiana Secretary of State, "2017 Elections Calendar," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Geaux Vote, "Unofficial Results - East Baton Rouge Parish," accessed October 14, 2017
- ↑ The Advocate, "Deadlock to fill Freiberg's vacancy on EBR School Board ends Thursday with one vote switched; Gaudet named to seat," January 19, 2017
- ↑ St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, "School Board: Policies," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, "Becoming a Candidate," accessed July 14, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, "Schedule of Reporting and Filing Dates for Candidates & PACs Supporting or Opposing Candidates—Primary Election October 14, 2017," accessed July 14, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 United States Census Bureau, "Quickfacts:East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana," accessed January 18, 2015
- ↑ 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
| East Baton Rouge Parish School System special elections in 2017 | |
| Baton Rouge, Louisiana | |
| Election date: | October 14, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District 7: Incumbent, Michael Gaudet • Brian Adams • Belinda Davis |
| Important information: | What's at stake? |
