Gail Pough
Gail Pough (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Colorado House of Representatives to represent District 42. She lost in the Democratic primary on June 28, 2022.
Pough completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2022
See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 42
Incumbent Mandy Lindsay defeated Cory Parella in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 42 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mandy Lindsay (D)  | 72.6 | 12,441 |
 | Cory Parella (R) | 27.4 | 4,703 | |
| Total votes: 17,144 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 42
Incumbent Mandy Lindsay defeated Gail Pough in the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 42 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mandy Lindsay | 58.5 | 2,980 |
 | Gail Pough | 41.5 | 2,118 | |
| Total votes: 5,098 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kyle Leggott (D)
- Debi Hunter Holen (D)
- Eric Nelson (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 42
Cory Parella advanced from the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 42 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cory Parella | 100.0 | 2,048 |
| Total votes: 2,048 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Pough's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
2017
- See also: Aurora Public Schools elections (2017)
Four of the seven seats on the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education in Colorado were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. The race included incumbent Barbara Yamrick and challengers Kyla Armstrong-Romero, Jane Barber, Kevin Cox, Debra Gerkin, Marques Ivey, Miguel In Suk Lovato, Gail Pough, and Lea Steed. Armstrong-Romero, Cox, Gerkin, and Ivey won the spots on the board.[1]
Results
| Aurora Public Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Kevin Cox |
16.58% | 12,636 |
| Debra Gerkin |
16.26% | 12,391 |
| Kyla Armstrong-Romero |
15.13% | 11,527 |
| Marques Ivey |
12.9% | 9,830 |
| Gail Pough | 9.76% | 7,441 |
| Miguel In Suk Lovato | 8.91% | 6,793 |
| Jane Barber | 7.15% | 5,447 |
| Barbara Yamrick Incumbent | 7.07% | 5,385 |
| Lea Steed | 6.25% | 4,760 |
| Total Votes | 76,210 | |
| Source: Arapahoe County, Official Results," accessed August 28, 2023 and Adams County Elections Office, "Official Results," accessed August 28, 2023 | ||
Funding
Pough reported $12,756.32 in contributions and $12,328.81 in expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State, which left her campaign with $427.51 as of December 8, 2017.[2]
Endorsements
Pough was endorsed by the BlueFlower Fund and Colorado Senator Rhonda Fields (D).[3][4]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Gail Pough completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Pough's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Affordable Housing - I have seen first hand the challenges that our neighbors face as the costs of housing continues to rise in Colorado and our district. For many, including my daughters, rising rents put independent living out of reach and life on hold. I will fight for more affordable housing for both renters and home buyers.
- Health Care - While progress has been made to lower costs and ensure that everyone has access to health care and insurance, I know that more can be done to eliminate disparities in the quality of healthcare and provide for care that goes beyond physical health. I will continue the work of making healthcare, both physical and mental, more affordable, equitable, and accessible. I also believe that abortion and birth control are part of a holistic health care system for women. In light of likely Supreme Court decisions, I will make it a priority to protect the rights of women to make their own healthcare decisions.
- Education - Both of my daughters attended and graduated from Aurora Public Schools so I have seen how the chronic under funding of our education system has negatively impacted students, families, and teachers. I believe that a well funded and high quality education system is fundamental not only to economic prosperity, but the well being of our students and community, and inevitably the health of our Democracy
Health Care
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2017
Chalkbeat questionnaire
Pough participated in the following questionnaire conducted by Chalkbeat. The questions provided by the news organization appear bolded, and Pough's responses follow below.
Tell us a bit about yourself. How long have you lived in the school district? What do you do for a living?
| “ | My name is Gail Pough. I’m a mom and a public servant, and have spent years organizing with parents around education with Together Colorado. I have lived in Aurora for 16 years and raised my two daughters Kristen and Alexandra, as a single mom. Kris and Alex both graduated from Aurora Public Schools. Kris graduated from college this year and Alex is a Junior in college. I have worked for the City of Aurora for 16 years, currently as a Fire Inspector.[5] | ” |
| —Gail Pough (2017)[6] | ||
Tell us about your connection to the school district.
| “ | Through the years, I have worked hard to organize my fellow parents in the district. While organizing with Together Colorado, I worked along side with refugee, undocumented, and immigrant parents to update an old bus policy from the 70’s, and we were able to get about five bus stops added so students at Aurora central could get to school during bad weather. I worked this year with parents at RISE on the resolution for safe schools — which protects immigrant students — and testified on behalf of the resolution. I was so happy when the board approved the resolution reaffirming our commitment to our immigrant students. Organizing works. It’s time for parents in Aurora to mobilize our power. When I was working with other parents at Together Colorado, I learned to not underestimate the power of groups of people. Families are key stakeholders in this district who have the most to lose from our kids not having a successful education.[5] | ” |
| —Gail Pough (2017)[6] | ||
The district’s state test scores improved this year, enough to lift the district’s state quality rating and get APS off the accountability clock. Why do think the district was able to achieve this, and do you think APS is on the right track?
| “ | APS was able to get off the accountability clock by really focusing on work at the district level to identify where our students were at, identify where the opportunity gaps were that are creating achievement gaps, and providing support to educators to focus on individual students and align their instruction to individual needs and to meeting the new state standards. As a result, both test scores and graduation rates have gone up, which is great. Aurora had a larger increase in the number of 8th graders at or above grade level in English than the state average. Unfortunately, that increase was below the state average for our third graders — and we know that third grade literacy is one of the clearest indicators for whether our students are on track to graduate. We also saw some really great improvements with the 9th graders at Aurora Central, where my daughter attended, and and William Smith students had some of the highest growth in the state. I think that we are making great progress to improve our kids’ access to a great education, but we have much more work to do, and we can’t let up now![5] | ” |
| —Gail Pough (2017)[6] | ||
Some candidates have said they would like the school board to have more accountability or transparency. What would you say to that, and should anything change on that issue?
| “ | I absolutely agree that we should have more transparency and accountability. Parents need to know how their students are doing, and how good of a job individual schools are doing of serving students. Especially with budget cuts, Aurora families deserve to know how taxpayer dollars are being spent, and where money is being prioritized. Budgets are moral documents. When we cut funding for translation services, that tells us something about our priorities as a district.[5] | ” |
| —Gail Pough (2017)[6] | ||
Aurora has sought to increase school quality by recruiting the high-performing charter school network DSST. Is this a sound strategy and was the process sound, or would you have done anything differently?
| “ | I don’t have all the details about how this decision was made. However, I know that APS doesn’t have a clear and consistent way to approve charter schools, and I think that we need those consistent guidelines for any new school that wants to open to ensure that we are a responsible authorizer. Regarding DSST, if the community gave input and supported the district, then I support that community choice. Parents in my Aurora community have been seeking out better educational options for their children for a long time — it’s no secret amongst parents I know that they feel that schools in our neighborhoods are failing our Black and Brown students. I feel strongly about parents.[5] | ” |
| —Gail Pough (2017)[6] | ||
What role do you believe local school boards should have in reviewing, approving or managing charter schools that wish to open in the district?
| “ | It is the obligation of the school board to hold high standards for approving contracts for charters that apply. In addition, oversight and high standards must continue to be monitored through the duration of the contract. I am concerned about the online charter schools that operate in Aurora that have not shown me that they are doing a good job of educating students. The board did make a good decision when they did not renew a contract for online services that were not serving kids well. I believe in supporting schools that support all children.[5] | ” |
| —Gail Pough (2017)[6] | ||
Aurora Public Schools is likely to continue facing budget issues. What funding do you think ought to be cut, and how should the district go about deciding what should be cut?
| “ | It’s a hard truth that Colorado doesn’t have enough education funding. I am all for innovative solutions that help us be efficient with our budgets, but I am also a parent, and I know that Lyn Knoll and William Smith are receiving less funding this fall. As I said before, budgets are moral documents that reflect our priorities. I know that the district had been talking about cutting full-day kindergarten, and I also know that kindergarten is one of the most important investments we can make in our kids. Instead of cutting kindergarten funding, the district reduced healthcare plans for teachers and translation services. That’s not right, either. I support future mill levy questions to increase school funding, but we’re going to need to focus on some serious conversations about funding at the state level.[5] | ” |
| —Gail Pough (2017)[6] | ||
Do you agree with the resolution the school board passed earlier this year to support immigrant and refugee students? How would you judge what the district is doing to respond to the concerns of those communities?
| “ | Yes. I worked alongside parents at RISE in drafting the resolution and I testified on behalf of the resolution. My daughter testified too, because this resolution was important to my family. It’s important that the district continues to respond to the concerns of the immigrant, refugee, and undocumented communities and that we commit to protecting them. Our public schools are for all students — regardless of documentation status. I will continue to reach out to the community and community organizations, and soliciting feedback from students and families at schools and school events. I’m also committed to being available to working families, families with small children, and families for whom English isn’t a first language — I have seen these families left out of “engagement” because they can’t attend meetings at certain times, need childcare at those meetings, and need translation services that may not be available.[5] | ” |
| —Gail Pough (2017)[6] | ||
What do you see as the biggest issue facing Aurora schools today and how do you hope to have an impact on said issue as a school board member?
| “ | I fundamentally believe that every single APS student is capable of achieving, and I will bring that high expectation to my role as a board member. There are several barriers creating the opportunity gaps that become achievement gaps. Equity needs to be kept at the forefront in the district. All children, no matter their socio-economic status, race, ability, or immigration status, should have an excellent education. Expansion of services for translation is needed. When educators, school leaders, and the district are not able to communicate to families about academic achievement due to a language barrier, parents can’t advocate for their kids. Students, teachers, and families need to feel safe and supported, which is why I supported the resolution to keep ICE out of schools, and why I support wraparound services like school breakfast and counseling services. Finally, sometimes it’s about prioritization – the principals of the innovation zone in Aurora used their autonomy to ensure that their schools had additional interpretation services. The district should look at those decisions as they consider the broader district budgeting – parent teacher conferences, school board meetings, and every document sent home from school needs to be accessible to every family.[5] | ” |
| —Gail Pough (2017)[6] | ||
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Colorado House of Representatives District 42 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Aurora Public Schools, "APS Board of Education Election," accessed September 7, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Database: Political Race Search," accessed December 8, 2017
- ↑ Colorado BlueFlower Fund, "BlueFlower Fund Endorses 33 for November 2017 Candidates," accessed October 31, 2017
- ↑ Facebook, "Rhonda Fields for Colorado," accessed October 31, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 Chalkbeat, "We asked the 2017 Aurora school board candidates nine questions. Here are their responses," October 5, 2017
