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Endorsements in Pennsylvania school board elections, 2023
| School Board Endorsements |
| 2023 |
 |
Regular elections • Recalls |
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Conflicts in school board elections |
Pennsylvania held elections for 2,611 of the state's 4,338 school board seats on November 7. Each of the state’s 500 school districts held at least one election, except for Philadelphia, where the mayor appoints school board members.
Pennsylvania is the county's most populous state that holds partisan school board elections by default, meaning candidates often run in partisan primaries and appear on the ballot with party labels. Pennsylvania also allows candidates to cross-file, so they can appear on the ballot with multiple party labels. For clarity in this analysis, Ballotpedia researched publicly available voter files and candidate filing information to identify the partisan affiliation of candidates running in these elections.
Overall, of the 2,611 seats up for election:
- Registered Democrats won 39%
- Registered Republicans won 59%
- Registered independents or minor party candidates won 1%
- Candidates whose affiliation could not be identified won ~0%
Democratic and Republican wins primarily came from districts where those parties made up a majority or plurality of voters. Of the 2,611 seats up for election, 29% were in Democratic-leaning districts and 71% were in Republican-leaning districts.
- Of the 1,017 Democrats who won, 59% did so in Democratic-leaning districts
- Of the 1,552 Republicans who won, 91% did so in Republican-leaning districts
These totals include uncontested and contested intra-party elections, which accounted for 48% and 7% of all seats up for election, respectively.
The remaining 45% of elections were between candidates with different partisan affiliations, described as contested inter-party elections. In these elections, registered Democrats and Republicans both had 63% win rates, respectively.
This report also includes a catalog of every endorsement Ballotpedia identified in these elections, along with breakdowns among the groups that issued the most endorsements.
Democratic and Republican Party affiliates issued the most endorsements overall, with 943 and 705, respectively. The Democratic Party had a 69% win rate in contested elections, and the Republican Party had a 57% win rate.
The Pennsylvania State Education Association and its affiliates issued the next-most endorsements among liberal endorsers, with 131. The group had a 61% win rate in contested elections.
Moms for Liberty had the next-most endorsements among conservative endorsers, with 64, and a 50% win rate in contested elections.
Use the links below to navigate to:
- Election results
- Partisan analysis
- Party performance
- Open seats
- Incumbents defeated
- Endorsement information
- Candidate information
- District information
- Methodology
Election results
Pennsylvania held 1,059 elections for 2,611 school board seats in 2023.[1]
- Registered Democrats won 1,017 seats (39%)
- Registered Republicans won 1,552 seats (59%)
- Registered independents or minor party candidates won 36 seats (1%)
- Candidates whose affiliation could not be identified won six seats (0%)
The table below shows election results based on the party registration of the winning candidate. There were three types of elections:
- Uncontested, where there was no election.
- Contested intra-party, where there was a contested election between members of the same political party; and,
- Contested inter-party, where there was a contested election between members of different political parties.
Figures show how many seats were won by candidates with the given party registration.
| Pennsylvania school board election winners, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Uncontested | Contested intra-party | Contested inter-party | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | |||||||||||||||||
| Democrats | 471 | 18.0% | 45 | 1.7% | 501 | 19.2% | 1,017 | 39.0% | ||||||||||||||||
| Republicans | 756 | 29.0% | 142 | 5.4% | 654 | 25.0% | 1,552 | 59.4% | ||||||||||||||||
| Other | 27 | 1.0% | 1 | 0.0% | 8 | 0.3% | 36 | 1.4% | ||||||||||||||||
| Unknown | 4 | 0.2% | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 0.1% | 6 | 0.2% | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | 1,258 | 48.2% | 188 | 7.2% | 1,165 | 44.6% | 2,611 | |||||||||||||||||
There were 624 uncontested elections for 1,258 seats, representing 48% of all seats up for election.
Forty-eight of these elections had fewer candidates on the ballot than seats up for election, and 26 elections had no candidates on the ballot, guaranteeing a total of 85 seats to write-in candidates. In Pennsylvania, if a write-in candidate wins an election, they must indicate whether they want to hold that position. If a person declines, the seat becomes vacant.
For the purpose of this analysis, write-in candidates are counted as winners, regardless of whether they ultimately accepted the position.
There were 73 contested intra-party elections for 188 seats, representing 7% of all seats up for election. Intra-party elections are contested elections, meaning at least one candidate must lose, but every candidate on the ballot has the same party affiliation.
There were 13 intra-party elections between Democrats, 59 between Republicans, and one between independent or minor party candidates.
There were 362 contested inter-party elections for 1,165 seats, representing 45 % of all seats up for election. Inter-party elections are contested elections featuring candidates with different party affiliations.
Republicans won a majority of seats in contested inter-party elections (56%), followed by Democrats (43%), and independent or minor party candidates (1%).
The spreadsheet below shows results from Pennsylvania's November 7 general elections. The leftmost columns show district names, the offices up for election within those districts, and the number of seats up for election within those offices. This list does not include candidates who lost in primaries or those who withdrew before the general election.
Winning and defeated candidates are shown under their respective columns and are highlighted based on their ideological lean as determined by the endorsements they received.
- Blue highlights indicate a liberal ideological lean
- Red highlights indicate a conservative ideological lean
- Purple highlights indicate a mixed ideological lean
- Dark gray highlights indicate the candidate received only neutral or unclear endorsements
- Light gray highlights indicate Ballotpedia identified no endorsements for the candidate
Winning candidates marked with (WI) are write-in candidates. Those listed as "unknown" were write-ins whom Ballotpedia could not identify. Write-in winners may not ultimately assume office. In Pennsylvania, if a candidate wins as a write-in, they must accept the position before assuming office. If they decline the position, it becomes vacant.
Incumbents are marked with a dark gray square to the right of their name.
Partisan analysis
Democratic and Republican wins primarily came from districts where those parties made up a majority or plurality of voters.
Of the 2,611 seats up for election, 755 (29%) were in Democratic-leaning districts and 1,856 (71%) were in Republican-leaning districts.
Election outcomes tended to break along those district partisan lines, with Democrats winning 601 of the 755 seats in Democratic-leaning districts (80%) and Republicans winning 1,405 of the 1,856 seats in Republican-leaning districts (76%).
Republican victories primarily came from Republican districts. Of the 1,552 Republicans who won, 1,405 (91%) did so in Republican-leaning districts, compared to 147 (9%) who won in Democratic-leaning districts.
Of the 1,017 Democrats who won, 601 (59%) did so in Democratic-leaning districts, compared to 416 (41%) who won in Republican-leaning districts.
A full map of every school district in Pennsylvania by its partisan balance can be found here.
Outliers
There was one Democratic-plurality district where only Republicans won:
There were nine Republican-plurality districts where only Democrats won:
- Carlisle Area
- Central Bucks
- Derry Township
- Frazier
- Manheim Township
- Owen J. Roberts
- Pennridge
- Perkiomen Valley
- Unionville-Chadds Ford
Party performance
This section displays win and loss rates for candidates by party affiliation, showing how they performed in contested inter-party elections.
In these contested inter-party elections:
- 799 Democrats ran, 501 of whom (63%) won;
- 1,045 Republicans ran, 654 of whom (63%) won;
- 28 independent or minor party candidates ran, eight of whom (29%) won; and,
- Three candidates whose affiliations could not be identified ran, two of whom (67%) won.
| Party performance in contested inter-party Pennsylvania school board elections, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ideology | Candidates | Won | Lost | |||||||||||||||||||||
| # | % | # | % | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Democratic | 799 | 501 | 62.7% | 298 | 37.3% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Republican | 1,045 | 654 | 62.6% | 391 | 37.4% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other | 28 | 8 | 28.6% | 20 | 71.4% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Unknown | 3 | 2 | 66.7% | 1 | 33.3% | |||||||||||||||||||
Incumbency
Open seats
Of the 2,611 seats up for election, incumbents ran for 1,782 (68%), leaving 829 seats open (32%). This open seat rate was average compared to Ballotpedia's regular coverage scope over the preceding five years.[2]
- Between 2018 and 2022, on average, Ballotpedia recorded a 29% open seat rate within its regular coverage scope.
Overall, 499 districts held elections. Of that total, 94 districts (19%) had no open seats, 398 (80%) had some open seats, and, in seven (1%), all seats were open.
Incumbents defeated
Of the 1.805 incumbents who ran for re-election, 1,483 won (82%), and 322 lost (18%). Of that total, 122 lost in primaries held on May 17, and the remaining 200 lost on Nov. 7. This overall loss rate was average compared to Ballotpedia's regular coverage scope over the preceding five years.
- Between 2018 and 2022, on average, Ballotpedia recorded a 16% overall loss rate within its regular coverage scope.
The percentage of incumbents defeated increases to 34% when looking only at the 961 incumbents who ran in contested elections, those where an incumbent could have lost. This contested loss rate was above average compared to Ballotpedia's regular coverage scope over the preceding five years.
- Between 2018 and 2022, on average, Ballotpedia recorded a 26% contested loss rate within its regular coverage scope.
Overall, 499 districts held elections. Of that total, no incumbents lost in 292 districts (59%), some incumbents lost in 187 districts (37%), and all incumbents lost in 13 districts (3%). There were seven districts (1%) where no incumbents ran for re-election.
Endorsements
Top endorsers
The table below shows the top 10 endorsers in Pennsylvania in terms of the total number of endorsements made. It includes a hoverable column with information about each endorser, the number of candidates they endorsed, and the number of endorsees who won, both in terms of all endorsees and among only those in contested elections.[3][4]
| Top Pennsylvania school board endorsers, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endorser | Info | All | Contested | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Endorsees | Won | % | Lost | % | Endorsees | Won | % | Lost | % | |||||||||||||||
| Democratic Party of Pennsylvania | About | 943 | 722 | 76.6% | 221 | 23.4% | 701 | 480 | 68.5% | 221 | 31.5% | |||||||||||||
| Republican Party of Pennsylvania | About | 705 | 445 | 63.1% | 260 | 36.9% | 602 | 342 | 56.8% | 260 | 43.2% | |||||||||||||
| Pennsylvania State Education Association | About | 131 | 82 | 62.6% | 49 | 37.4% | 125 | 76 | 60.8% | 49 | 39.2% | |||||||||||||
| Red Wine and Blue | About | 66 | 49 | 74.2% | 17 | 25.8% | 66 | 49 | 74.2% | 17 | 25.8% | |||||||||||||
| Moms For Liberty | About | 64 | 33 | 51.6% | 31 | 48.4% | 62 | 31 | 50.0% | 31 | 50.0% | |||||||||||||
| 1776 Project PAC | About | 58 | 41 | 70.7% | 17 | 29.3% | 51 | 34 | 66.7% | 17 | 33.3% | |||||||||||||
| PA Stands Up | About | 58 | 34 | 58.6% | 24 | 41.4% | 57 | 33 | 57.9% | 24 | 42.1% | |||||||||||||
| PA Economic Growth PAC | About | 47 | 44 | 93.6% | 3 | 6.4% | 37 | 34 | 91.9% | 3 | 8.1% | |||||||||||||
| Everytown for Gun Safety | About | 39 | 24 | 61.5% | 15 | 38.5% | 37 | 22 | 59.5% | 15 | 40.5% | |||||||||||||
| Lehigh Valey for All | About | 29 | 26 | 89.7% | 3 | 10.3% | 26 | 23 | 88.5% | 3 | 11.5% | |||||||||||||
Top endorsees
The table below shows the nine candidates who received the most endorsements. It includes candidates, the offices they ran for, the total number of endorsements they received based on the partisan lean of the endorser, and their election results. Incumbents are marked with (i).
| Top Pennsylvania school board endorsees, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | District | Endorsers | Result | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Liberal | Conservative | Other | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dana Foley | Central Bucks School District | 10 | 0 | 1 | Won | |||||||||||||||||||
| Susan M. Gibson | Central Bucks School District | 10 | 0 | 1 | Won | |||||||||||||||||||
| Heather Reynolds | Central Bucks School District | 9 | 0 | 1 | Won | |||||||||||||||||||
| Karen Smith | Central Bucks School District | 8 | 0 | 1 | Won | |||||||||||||||||||
| Rick Haring | Central Bucks School District | 8 | 0 | 1 | Won | |||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen Mass | Central Bucks School District | 0 | 5 | 0 | Lost | |||||||||||||||||||
| Dana Hunter | Central Bucks School District | 0 | 5 | 0 | Lost | |||||||||||||||||||
| Bridgette N. Jackson | Altoona Area School District | 5 | 0 | 0 | Lost | |||||||||||||||||||
| Amelia McMillan | Central York School District | 5 | 0 | 0 | Won | |||||||||||||||||||
Full endorsements list
The table below lists all endorsements identified by Ballotpedia among Pennsylvania school board candidates in 2023. The list is sorted alphabetically by district name. Click the headers to adjust sorting or use the search bar to look for specific districts, candidates, or endorsers. If a source link is not functioning properly, all links were archived with the Internet Archive if possible.
Candidate information
Candidate ages
In Pennsylvania, birthdate information is made publicly available in the state's voter file. Using this data, Ballotpedia found that the average school board candidate was 52.6 years old. This increased to 52.8 years old for Democrats and decreased to 52.4 and 50.9 years old for Republicans and all other candidates, respectively.
The table below shows the distribution of the 2,611 seats up for election based on the age range of the candidates who won those seats.
| Pennsylvania school board election winners by age range, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age range | Uncontested | Contested | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||
| # | % | # | % | # | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18-24 | 0.3% | 11 | 0.8% | 15 | 0.6% | |||||||||||||||||||
| 25-34 | 47 | 3.7% | 45 | 3.3% | 92 | 3.5% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 35-44 | 259 | 20.6% | 317 | 23.4% | 576 | 22.1% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 45-54 | 397 | 31.6% | 421 | 31.1% | 818 | 31.3% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 55-64 | 272 | 21.6% | 283 | 20.9% | 555 | 21.3% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 65-74 | 211 | 16.8% | 215 | 15.9% | 426 | 16.3% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 75+ | 63 | 5.0% | 59 | 4.4% | 122 | 4.7% | ||||||||||||||||||
| Unknown[5] | 5 | 0.4% | 2 | 0.1% | 7 | 0.3% | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 1,258 | 1,353 | 2,611 | |||||||||||||||||||||
The graphic below shows how many candidates won and lost from each age range.
Candidates aged 55 to 64 had the highest win rate, at 70% overall and 58% in contested elections.
Candidates aged 18 to 24 had the lowest win rate, at 48% overall. When focusing only on contested elections, both that age group and candidates aged 25 to 34 had win rates of 44%.
Oldest and youngest candidates
The table below lists the 10 youngest and oldest candidates who ran in Pennsylvania's school board elections in 2023. It also includes the district where they ran, whether the election was contested or uncontested in the general election, and their election results. Incumbents are marked with (i).
| Ten youngest and oldest Pennsylvania school board candidates, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Age | District | Status | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Youngest candidates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ethan D. Phillippi | 19 | Conemaugh Township Area | Uncont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Elijah Majocha | 19 | Highlands | Uncont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alex Snyder | 19 | Conrad Weiser Area | Uncont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W. Alexander Kurtek | 19 | Minersville Area | Cont. | Lost (prim.) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Zane G. Hensal | 20 | Moshannon Valley | Cont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nick Lovell | 20 | Littlestown Area | Cont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Abrianny Rivas | 20 | Reading | Cont. | Lost (prim.) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tyler Ream | 20 | Penn Cambria | Uncont. | Lost (prim.) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Michael Knupp | 20 | Ligonier Valley | Cont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Brady L. Sager | 20 | Girard | Cont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Oldest candidates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elmer Parker Shambaugh | 90 | East Pennsboro Area | Cont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Hope Miller Street | 88 | Williamsport Area | Cont. | Lost (prim.) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dick Scialabba | 87 | Huntingdon Area | Uncont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Fred A. Miller | 87 | Littlestown Area | Cont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| George M. Smith | 86 | Quaker Valley | Cont. | Lost | ||||||||||||||||||||
| John Nadzam (i) | 86 | Western Beaver County | Cont. | Lost | ||||||||||||||||||||
| John C. Campbell (i) | 85 | Washington | Cont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Robert A. Gleason (i) | 85 | Westmont Hilltop | Cont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Michael Mould (i) | 85 | Lackawanna Trail | Uncont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
| David J. Volosin (i) | 85 | Jamestown Area | Uncont. | Won | ||||||||||||||||||||
District information
Student-to-teacher ratio
The map below displays the student-to-teacher ratio in all Pennsylvania school districts. Hover for additional district characteristics.
Partisan balance
Using publicly-available voter registration information, Ballotpedia calculated the partisan balance of each of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts.
- Registered Democrats make up a majority of voters in 77 school districts and a plurality in 67.[6]
- Registered Republicans make up a majority of voters in 266 school districts and a plurality in 89.
Use the links in the table below to view the 10 school districts in Pennsylvania with the largest percentage of either Democratic or Republican voters or with the largest percentage of voters registered as independents or with a minor party.
Methodology
Terms and definitions
Descriptive endorsements
This research focuses on descriptive endorsements, those that help describe the stances or policy positions of a candidate. This is based on the assumption that endorsers tend to endorse candidates holding one or multiple positions that align with those of the endorser. If an endorser's positions are not readily apparent, their endorsements are not considered descriptive endorsements.
Examples of endorsers whose endorsements might be considered descriptive include political parties, issue-based organizations with clear policy stances, unions, current or former elected officials, and current or former party officers.
Apart from this section, any mention of endorsements refers to descriptive endorsements.
Endorser
An endorser is an individual or organization that has made a descriptive endorsement. Examples of which include, but are not limited to:
|
Individuals:
|
Organizations:
|
Process
Identifying endorsements
Ballotpedia gathers endorsements using four primary methods:
- Submissions: Readers can submit endorsement information to Ballotpedia directly using this link. Ballotpedia staff reviews all submitted information daily to determine whether it warrants inclusion. Reader-submitted endorsements must include a link to a source verifying the endorsement to be included.
- Candidate Connection Surveys: Candidates who complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection Survey are asked to share any endorsements they have received. Any submitted endorsements will appear in the candidate's survey responses. Ballotpedia staff also reviews every survey with endorsement information to determine whether those submissions include descriptive endorsements to add to our overall tracking process. Candidates are invited to submit links to sources for their endorsements, but this is not required.[7]
- Outreach: Ballotpedia staff contacts endorsers directly to request endorsement lists. At the start of the election cycle, every endorser will receive an email requesting information. Ballotpedia staff also contacts endorsers to clarify information and, if we see they have endorsed one candidate, to determine whether they have also endorsed others.
- Direct research: Ballotpedia staff conducts direct research, regularly checking all identified endorsers and relevant news media in each state. This research might also include looking at specific districts or candidates where endorsement activity appears likely.
Recording endorsements
Once an endorsement has been identified, it is recorded along with the date it was made (if known), a link to the source of the endorsement, and the date Ballotpedia staff learned of the endorsement. If possible, Ballotpedia archives every web source used to identify an endorsement.
For every recorded endorsement, Ballotpedia staff prepare a brief summary of the endorser. For individuals, this might include the party they are affiliated with, their statements regarding a particular policy, or their electoral history. For organizations, this might include the standards by which they issue endorsements, their mission statement, or any other statements regarding a particular policy. When available, Ballotpedia uses direct quotes from endorsers in these summaries, which appear beside each endorsement to provide added context to readers.
Labeling
After identifying an endorsement, Ballotpedia applies a partisan ideology label based on the policies the endorser supports or affiliation with other partisan organizations. Those labels are:
- Liberal: the endorser is either affiliated with the Democratic Party, supports traditionally liberal education policies, or opposes traditionally conservative education policies without also opposing traditionally liberal policies.
- Conservative: the endorser is either affiliated with the Republican Party, supports traditionally conservative education policies, or opposes traditionally liberal education policies without also opposing traditionally conservative policies.
- Neutral: the endorser is not affiliated with either major party and does not take specific policy stances, supportive or otherwise, examples of which include local newspapers.
- Unclear: the endorser would be of interest to voters, but Ballotpedia could not identify a partisan ideology, examples of which include former school board members.
As part of this analysis, Ballotpedia then uses the labels applied to endorsers to determine the partisan ideology of the endorsed candidate. Those resulting candidate ideology labels are:
- Liberal: the candidate received an endorsement from a liberal endorser and none from conservative endorsers.
- Conservative: the candidate received an endorsement from a conservative endorser and none from liberal endorsers.
- Mixed: the candidate received endorsements from liberal and conservative endorsers.
- Other: the candidate received endorsements from either neutral or unclear endorsers and none from liberal or conservative endorsers.
While candidates can receive a mixture of endorsements, primacy is given to liberal and conservative endorsements. For example, if a candidate received endorsements from liberal and neutral endorsers, their ideology label would be liberal.
Timing
Ballotpedia tracks and gathers endorsement information throughout the election cycle. If a district holds primary elections, endorsements are only added on-site after the primary date.
Voter registration
While most school board elections are officially nonpartisan, meaning candidates appear on the ballot without party labels, the state makes voter registration information publicly available. Ballotpedia used this information to identify each candidate's party registration in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota. Note: a candidate's party registration status does not necessarily indicate the candidate's personal ideologies. Many voters register to vote with one party and later find themselves more aligned with another party but do not update their registration as such. Understanding that their registration information is effectively public, voters may also choose a certain registration or affiliate with no party, with that in mind.
Ballotpedia first compared candidate names and school districts to the publicly available voter file to tie candidates with their party registration. The associated voter information was logged if the candidate’s name only appeared once in the school district. If the candidate’s name appeared multiple times in a single school district, Ballotpedia looked at each voter file entry to match the registration address with other identifiable information associated with the candidate. This method accounted for all duplicate entries.
If a candidate was registered under a different name than the one they filed to run with (i.e. registered as Robert Smith but running as Bob Smith), Ballotpedia used a variety of methods to pinpoint the candidate’s voter file information including:
- Looking for every person with the same last name as the candidate in the school district;
- Identifying known associates (i.e. children, spouses), and using public records to determine if any households had changed addresses;
- Utilizing publicly available social media information; or,
- A mixture of these three approaches.
Labeling
After identifying an endorsement, Ballotpedia applies a partisan ideology label based on the policies the endorser supports or affiliation with other partisan organizations. Those labels are:
- Liberal: the endorser is either affiliated with the Democratic Party or supports traditionally liberal education policies.
- Conservative: the endorser is either affiliated with the Republican Party or supports traditionally conservative education policies.
- Neutral: the endorser is not affiliated with either major party and does not take specific policy stances, examples of which include local newspapers.
- Unclear: the endorser would be of interest to voters, but Ballotpedia could not identify a partisan ideology, examples of which include former school board members.
As part of this analysis, Ballotpedia then uses the labels applied to endorsers to determine the partisan ideology of the endorsed candidate. Those resulting candidate ideology labels are:
- Liberal: the candidate received an endorsement from a liberal endorser and none from conservative endorsers.
- Conservative: the candidate received an endorsement from a conservative endorser and none from liberal endorsers.
- Mixed: the candidate received endorsements from liberal and conservative endorsers.
- Other: the candidate received endorsements from either neutral or unclear endorsers and none from liberal or conservative endorsers.
While candidates can receive a mixture of endorsements, primacy is given to liberal and conservative endorsements. For example, if a candidate received endorsements from liberal and neutral endorsers, their ideology label would be liberal.
Voter registration
Pennsylvania holds partisan school board elections, meaning candidates can run in partisan primaries and appear on the ballot with party labels. However, Pennsylvania also allows candidates to seek multiple party nominations, meaning a candidate can appear on the general election ballot as "Democratic/Republican" if they win both partisan primaries.
With this in mind, Ballotpedia used Pennsylvania's publicly available voter files to identify each candidate's party registration. Note: a candidate's party registration status does not necessarily indicate the candidate's personal ideologies. Many voters register to vote with one party and, later on, find themselves more aligned with another party but do not update their registration as such. Understanding that their registration information is effectively public, voters may also choose a certain registration, or affiliate with no party, with that in mind.
To tie candidates with their party registration, Ballotpedia first compared candidate names and school districts to the publicly available voter file. If the candidate’s name only appeared once in the school district, the associated voter information was logged. If the candidate’s name appeared multiple times in a single school district, Ballotpedia looked at each voter file entry to match the registration address with other identifiable information associated with the candidate. This method accounted for all duplicate entries.
If a candidate was registered under a different name than the one they filed to run with (i.e. registered as Robert Smith but running as Bob Smith), Ballotpedia used a variety of methods to pinpoint the candidate’s voter file information including:
- Looking for every person with the same last name as the candidate in the school district;
- Identifying known associates (i.e. children, spouses), and using public records to determine if any households had changed addresses;
- Utilizing publicly available social media information; or,
- A mixture of these three approaches.
Unexpired terms
If a vacancy occurs during the first half of a school board member's term, and the board appoints someone to fill that vacancy, that position must appear on the ballot at the next regularly scheduled election. These are races to fill the remainder of the original member's unexpired term, a period of two years. This can result in the same office appearing on the ballot more than once but for different term lengths. For example, School District, Region A may appear on the ballot twice, once for a four-year term and again for an unexpired, two-year term.
There were 126 elections to fill out unexpired terms, accounting for 140 seats, 5% of those up for election.
Pennsylvania allows candidates to appear on the ballot more than once. It is not uncommon for a candidate to run for both a four-year term and an unexpired, two-year term at the same time. If a candidate wins both elections, they must then decide which position they want to hold, and the other position(s) become vacancies.
There were 49 candidates who ran for multiple positions during the general election. This includes candidates who appeared on the ballot for multiple positions, write-in candidates who won multiple positions, and candidates who appeared on the ballot for one position and won as a write-in for another.
For the purpose of this analysis, those 49 candidates are counted as if they were individual candidates running for those different districts.
Elections by county
Navigate to Pennsylvania 2023 local elections overviews:
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ The number of elections and seats differs due to the presence of multi-member districts.
436 elections were for single seats.
301 elections were for two seats.
13 elections were for three seats.
11 elections were for four seats.
298 elections were for five seats - ↑ An open seat is one guaranteed to newcomers. If an incumbent ran for re-election but lost in the primary, that seat would not be considered open. If an incumbent ran for re-election but later withdrew, that seat would be considered open.
- ↑ Contested elections refer to any with more candidates running than seats available, meaning at least one candidate must lose.
- ↑ These totals only include those candidates who received an endorsement and appeared on the general election ballot.
- ↑ Ballotpedia could not determine these candidates' ages.
- ↑ This includes Philadelphia, which does not hold school board elections.
- ↑ Candidates regularly list endorsements on their campaign websites with no attribution, meant to be taken as true at face value. The same applies to endorsements submitted through surveys. Ballotpedia does not fact-check candidate-submitted information. However, if a candidate submits false information and Ballotpedia learns of this at a later time, their survey responses will be updated to reflect that information.
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