Harmony Mitchell

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Harmony Mitchell

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Ann Arbor Board of Education At-large

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Harmony Mitchell was an at-large member of the Ann Arbor Board of Education in Michigan. Mitchell assumed office in 2016. Mitchell left office on December 31, 2020.

Mitchell won the seat in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.

Elections

2016

See also: Ann Arbor Public Schools elections (2016)

Three of the seven seats on the Ann Arbor Public Schools school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbents Simone Lightfoot and Deb Mexicotte filed for re-election, while Andy Thomas opted not to seek a new term. Lightfoot and Mexicotte ran against challengers Jeff Gaynor, Rebecca Lazarus, Jeremy Glick, Harmony Mitchell, Don Wilkerson, and Hunter Van Valkenburgh. Gaynor, Lightfoot, and Mitchell won in the election.

Results

Ann Arbor Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jeff Gaynor	16.04%	22,258
Simone Lightfoot Incumbent	15.48%	21,487
Harmony Mitchell	14.78%	20,507
Deb Mexicotte Incumbent	14.07%	19,524
Hunter Van Valkenburgh	12.66%	17,566
Rebecca Lazarus	11.40%	15,822
Don Wilkerson	7.88%	10,940
Jeremy Glick	7.00%	9,718
Write-in votes	0.68%	940
Total Votes		138,762
Source: Washtenaw County, Michigan, "Official Election Results," accessed November 22, 2016

Funding

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016

School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.

In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.

October 28 filing

Candidates received a total of $15,654.22 and spent a total of $8,378.46 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Wasthenaw County Clerk/Register.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
Simone Lightfoot (incumbent)	$4,143.57	$3,282.62	$1,005.98
Deb Mexicotte (incumbent)	$2,262.30	$450.00	$1,812.30
Jeff Gaynor	$1,361.12	$0.00	$1,361.12
Jeremy Glick	$3,815.00	$3,281.60	$553.40
Rebecca Lazarus	$1,350.00	$1,364.24	-$14.24
Harmony Mitchell	$1,361.12	$0.00	$1,361.12
Don Wilkerson	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Hunter Van Valkenburgh	$1,361.11	$0.00	$1,361.11

Campaign themes

2016

Mitchell provided the following responses for the voter guide compiled by MLive.com:

“	Why are you running for office? I am running for office for a number of reasons. Here are my top three reasons for running. 1. I want to be a voice for the community who is often unheard, for a variety of reasons. 2. I want to see Ann Arbor fight for its core beliefs against the state's agenda. 3. I want world class education to remain obtainable for the entire Ann Arbor community. What are your top three priorities? My top 3 priorities are: 1. Eliminating the achievement gap. 2. Reducing the amount of standardized testing. 3. Improving equity among the teaching staff. What is the most pressing issue for this office? Unfortunately when it comes to running a school system there is no most pressing issue. The answer is complex and as tedious as building a house. The easy answer would be to suggest a balanced budget. This is a fair answer, but it does not speak to the kind of education, equity, and experience the student and staff will obtain. Like a house there are many fine details involved from minor, paint color, to major, plumbing and the roof involved. So while we can certainly lay a strong foundation with a balanced budget, if we don't build a functioning structure it will not matter. It is my hope that each board member brings their perspective to the table with the goal of better serving the students, staff, and community in mind.	”
—Harmony Mitchell (2016)

See also

• Ann Arbor Public Schools, Michigan
• Ann Arbor Public Schools elections (2016)

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Campaign website