Hamilton Township School District elections (2017)
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Three of the nine seats on the Hamilton Township Board of Education in New Jersey were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. Vote totals showed that board member Susan Lombardo and newcomers Albert Gayzik and Cameron Cardinale could defeat Girard Casale, Michael Donnelly, Susan Formica, former board member Joseph Golding, Angelo Hall, Manuel Jimenez, Joy Kerlin, Sherry Morency, Gary Schuck II, and Spencer Sydorko.[1]
Gayzik, Kerlin, and Schuck ran in the election as a slate.[2]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Hamilton Township School District Board of Education consists of nine members who are elected at large to three-year terms. Board members receive no compensation for their service.
To run for a school board in New Jersey, candidates must be U.S. citizens, registered to vote in the district for which they are running, and have lived in that district for at least one year. Candidates must also submit nominating petitions with the signatures of at least 10 registered voters in the district to get on the ballot. The filing deadline for this election was on July 31, 2017.[3]
To vote in New Jersey, you must be a U.S. citizen and a resident of the county for at least 30 days prior to the election. A voter must also be at least 18 years old by the time of the next election in order to register. The voter registration deadline in this election was October 17, 2017.[4]
- See also: Voting in New Jersey and Voter identification laws by state
Candidates and results
At-Large
Results
| Hamilton Township School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Susan Lombardo Incumbent |
14.68% | 6,472 |
| Cameron Cardinale |
9.57% | 4,221 |
| Albert Gayzik |
9.49% | 4,183 |
| Susan Formica | 9.35% | 4,123 |
| Joy Kerlin | 8.74% | 3,853 |
| Spencer Sydorko | 7.62% | 3,358 |
| Angelo Hall | 6.87% | 3,029 |
| Manuel Jimenez | 6.83% | 3,013 |
| Girard Casale | 6.22% | 2,744 |
| Michael Donnelly | 5.84% | 2,576 |
| Gary Schuck II | 5.68% | 2,505 |
| Sherry Morency | 4.68% | 2,065 |
| Joseph Golding | 4.05% | 1,786 |
| Write-in votes | 0.36% | 157 |
| Total Votes | 44,085 | |
| Source: Mercer County, "General Election November 7, 2017: Official Results," accessed March 22, 2018 | ||
Candidates
Susan Lombardo 
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Cameron Cardinale
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Girard Casale | Michael Donnelly | Susan Formica | Albert Gayzik
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Joseph Golding |
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| Angelo Hall | Manuel Jimenez | Joy Kerlin | Sherry Morency | Gary Schuck II | Spencer Sydorko |
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: New Jersey elections, 2017
This 2017 school board election in New Jersey shared the ballot with elections for:
The Mercer County Board of Elections did not have information posted on its website about any local elections sharing the ballot with this election as of October 26, 2017.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines in this 2017 New Jersey school board race:
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
Reports
No candidate in this election reported campaign contributions or expenditures as of October 17, 2017, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.[5]
General guidelines
School board candidates in New Jersey had to file reports of their campaign financial activity with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Each candidate is required to appoint a treasurer (a candidate may serve as his or her own treasurer) and create a campaign bank account and file this information with the commission. Candidates must establish a reporting committee, and no later than 10 days after establishing a committee, the candidate must file the Single Candidate Committee Certificate of Organization and Designation of Campaign Treasurer and Depository form.[6][7]
A candidate must begin filing reports with the commission on a date that depends upon when the committee's financial activity begins. If a candidate committee is set up within five months or less of the due date of the 29-Day Pre-Election Report, the committee must file a 29-Day Pre-Election Report as the initial election fund report. If the committee is established more than five months prior to the due date of the 29-Day Pre-Election Report, the committee must file a quarterly report as its initial election fund report. Beginning the thirteenth day before the election day and ending on election day, if a candidate receives more than $1,600 from a single source, the committee must file a report within 48 hours.[8]
The table below displays the campaign finance reporting dates for this 2017 school board election.
Past elections
To see results from past elections in the Hamilton Township School District, click here.
What was at stake?
Issues in the district
$55 million referendum passes
Voters in the Hamilton Township approved a $55.4 million referendum to make repairs in over 20 district schools on September 26, 2017. The measure passed with 5,070 yes votes (77 percent) to 1,523 no votes (23 percent). "By approving this referendum we assure that safety, security, and critical infrastructure needs are a priority in each of our schools," Superintendent Dr. Scott Rocco said in a statement on the district's Facebook page.[9]
The original referendum started as a proposed $227 million, and was eventually reduced to the $55.4 million that passed. The resulting tax increase was approximately $53 a year for the average home assessed at $213,000.[9]
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
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About the district
Hamilton Township School District is located in central New Jersey in Mercer County. The seat of county government is Trenton. Mercer County was home to an estimated 371,023 residents between 2010 and 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[10] The district was the 12th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 12,317 students.[11]
Demographics
Mercer County underperformed in comparison to New Jersey as a whole in terms of higher education attainment from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 39.6 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 36.8 percent of all state residents. The median household income in the county was $72,804, while it was $72,093 for the entire state. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 11.2 percent, while that rate was 10.8 percent for all state residents.[10]
| Racial Demographics, 2016[10] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Mercer County (%) | New Jersey (%) |
| White | 64.3 | 72.4 |
| Black or African American | 21.5 | 15.0 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Asian | 11.1 | 9.8 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 2.3 | 2.2 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 17.1 | 20.0 |
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 Hamilton Township School District New Jersey election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Hamilton Township School District | New Jersey | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Trentonian, "2017 Hamilton school board election promises governance shakeup," August 22, 2017
- ↑ Vote Gayzik, Schuck, and Kerlin, "Gayzik, Schuck, Kerlin Announce Hamilton School Board Run," accessed September 20, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey School Boards Association, "How to Become a School Board Member," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Register to Vote!" accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Filings," accessed October 17, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Permanent Statutes, "Title 19:44A-11," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Permanent Statutes, "Title 19:44A-10," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Compliance Manual for Candidates," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 NJ.com, "Referendum for $55M in repairs to Hamilton schools passes," September 26, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 United States Census Bureau, "Quickfacts: Mercer County, New Jersey," accessed September 1, 2017
- ↑ 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
| Hamilton Township School District elections in 2017 | |
| Mercer County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-Large: Incumbent, Susan Lombardo • Cameron Cardinale • Girard Casale • Michael Donnelly • Susan Formica • Albert Gayzik • Joseph Golding • Angelo Hall • Manuel Jimenez • Joy Kerlin • Sherry Morency • Gary Schuck II • Spencer Sydorko |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
