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Hazleton Area School District elections (2017)

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Hazleton Area School District Elections
Primary election date
May 16, 2017
General election date
November 7, 2017
Enrollment (14-15)
10,871 students

Four of the nine seats on the Hazleton Area School District school board were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. A partisan primary election was held on May 16, 2017. Board member Bob Mehalick and newcomers Linda Decosmo, Ed Shemansky, and Alexander Van Hoekelen won the four spots on the board in the general election.

Incumbents James Chapman and Mehalick, former board member Robert Childs, and challengers Decosmo, Mark Scarcella, Shemansky, and Van Hoekelen cross-filed to run in both the Democratic and Republican primary elections.[1] Mehalick, Decosmo, and Shemansky won both the Democratic and Republican primaries and advanced to the general election. Childs and Van Hoekelen also advanced to the general election. Childs advanced after winning the Democratic primary, and Van Hoekelen advanced after winning the Republican primary.[2][3][4]

These candidates could have faced independent candidates in the general election. However, no independent candidate filed by the August 1, 2017, deadline to get on the ballot.

Elections

Voter and candidate information

Hazleton Area SD.jpeg

The Hazleton Area school board consists of nine members elected at large to four-year, staggered terms. Five seats were up for election on November 3, 2015, and four seats were up for election on November 7, 2017.

Cross-filing

Pennsylvania permits school board candidates to cross-file in primary elections. This means that a candidate may file to run in the primary election for both the Democratic and Republican parties. A cross-filed candidate can advance to the general election by winning one or both of the partisan primaries. This maximizes a candidate’s chances of advancing to the general as they have two ways to win in the primary round. If the candidate wins only one, they face the winner of the other primary in the general election. Cross-filers who win both primaries may still face independent candidates in the general election.

General candidate requirements

To run for a school board in Pennsylvania, one must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old, and a resident of the school district for at least one year before the election date. To run in this 2017 school board election, partisan candidates had to file for office by March 7, 2017, and independent candidates had to file by August 1, 2017.[5][6]

Voter requirements

To vote in Pennsylvania, a resident must be a U.S. citizen for at least one month and a resident of the district in which he or she is registering for at least 30 days before the election. A voter must be at least 18 years of age by the next election date. The deadline to register to vote before the primary election was April 17, 2017, and the deadline to register to vote before the general election was October 10, 2017.[7]

See also: Voting in Pennsylvania and Voter identification laws by state


Candidates and results

General election

Results

Hazleton Area School District,
At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic/Republican Green check mark transparent.png Linda Decosmo 23.23% 6,770
     Democratic/Republican Green check mark transparent.png Bob Mehalick Incumbent 20.29% 5,913
     Democratic/Republican Green check mark transparent.png Ed Shemansky 20.07% 5,849
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Alexander Van Hoekelen 19.19% 5,592
     Democratic Robert Childs 17.22% 5,020
Total Votes 29,144
Source: Carbon County, "Election Summary Report," accessed November 8, 2017, Luzerne County, "Unofficial Results," accessed November 8, 2017, and Schuylkill County, "Unofficial Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Candidates

Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Bob Mehalick Green check mark transparent.png Democratic Party Robert Childs Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Linda Decosmo Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent
  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican, but was defeated in the Republican primary
  • Former board member

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican
Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Ed Shemansky Green check mark transparent.png Republican Party Alexander Van Hoekelen Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican, but was defeated in the Democratic primary

Democratic primary election

Results

Hazleton Area School District,
At-Large Democratic Primary Election, 4-year terms, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Linda Decosmo 19.00% 1,958
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Ed Shemansky 15.04% 1,550
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Robert Childs 15.03% 1,549
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Bob Mehalick Incumbent 14.76% 1,521
     Democratic James Chapman Incumbent 14.57% 1,501
     Democratic Alexander Van Hoekelen 12.24% 1,261
     Democratic Mark Scarcella 9.04% 932
Write-in votes 0.32% 33
Total Votes 10,305
Source: Carbon County, "Election Summary Report: Unofficial Results," accessed May 17, 2017, Luzerne County, "Municipal Primary Election - May 16, 2017: Unofficial Results," accessed May 17, 2017, and Schuylkill County Election Bureau, "HAZLETON AREA School District Unofficial Final Results," accessed May 17, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Candidates

Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party James Chapman Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Bob Mehalick Green check mark transparent.png Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Robert Childs Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent
  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent
  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican
  • Former board member
Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Linda Decosmo Green check mark transparent.png Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Mark Scarcella

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican
Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Ed Shemansky Green check mark transparent.png Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Alexander Van Hoekelen

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Republican primary election

Results

Hazleton Area School District,
At-Large Republican Primary Election, 4-year terms, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Bob Mehalick Incumbent 16.57% 1,782
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Linda Decosmo 16.42% 1,766
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Ed Shemansky 14.94% 1,607
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Alexander Van Hoekelen 14.25% 1,533
     Republican Robert Childs 14.18% 1,525
     Republican James Chapman Incumbent 13.77% 1,481
     Republican Mark Scarcella 9.53% 1,025
Write-in votes 0.35% 38
Total Votes 10,757
Source: Carbon County, "Election Summary Report: Unofficial Results," accessed May 17, 2017, Luzerne County, "Municipal Primary Election - May 16, 2017: Unofficial Results," accessed May 17, 2017, and Schuylkill County Election Bureau, "HAZLETON AREA School District Unofficial Final Results," accessed May 17, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Candidates

Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party James Chapman Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Bob Mehalick Green check mark transparent.png Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Robert Childs

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent
  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent
  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican
  • Former board member
Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Linda Decosmo Green check mark transparent.png Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Mark Scarcella

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican
Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Ed Shemansky Green check mark transparent.png Cross filed Republican Party/Democratic Party Alexander Van Hoekelen Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Placeholder image.png

  • Cross-filed as a Democrat and Republican

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2017

The Hazleton Area School District general election shared the ballot with elections for:[8]

The Hazleton Area School District primary election shared the ballot with primary elections for state judges and the Hazle Township supervisor, tax collector, and auditor.[9]

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for this Pennsylvania school board election in 2017:[10]

Deadline Event
March 7, 2017 Partisan candidate filing deadline
April 17, 2017 Deadline to register to vote before the primary election
May 16, 2017 Primary election day
August 1, 2017 Independent candidate filing deadline
October 10, 2017 Deadline to register to vote before the general election
November 7, 2017 General election day

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

Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png
See also: Campaign finance requirements in Pennsylvania and List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2017
2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Pennsylvania[11]
Date Deadline
May 5, 2017 2nd Friday Pre-Primary report due
June 15, 2017 30-Day Post-Primary report due
October 27, 2017 2nd Friday Pre-Election report due
December 7, 2017 30-Day Post-Election report due

School board candidates in Pennsylvania were required to report their campaign finance activity. Those who spent or received more than $250 in a reporting period had to file full reports. Those below the threshold had to file forms to declare they were exempt from reporting. Candidates could have, but were not required to, form committees to handle campaign finance transactions. They were not required to have separate bank accounts for campaign purposes.[12]

The table to the left details the four campaign finance deadlines in 2017.[11]

Past elections

What was at stake?

Report a story for this election

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Candidate survey

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About the district

See also: Hazleton Area School District, Pennsylvania
The Hazleton Area School District is primarily located in Luzerne County in east-central Pennsylvania.

The Hazleton Area School District is located in east-central Pennsylvania and primarily covers Luzerne County, with portions in Schuylkill and Carbon Counties. The county seat of Luzerne County is Wilkes-Barre. Luzerne County was home to approximately 316,383 residents between 2010 and 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the 15th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 10,871 students.[13][14]

Demographics

Luzerne County underperformed in comparison to Pennsylvania as a whole in terms of higher education attainment from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 21.4 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 28.6 percent of all state residents. The median household income in the county was $45,897, compared to $53,599 statewide. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 15.1 percent, while that rate was 13.2 percent for the entire state.[14]

Racial Demographics, 2015[14]
Race Luzerne County (%) Pennsylvania (%)
White 91.4 82.6
Black or African American 5.1 11.7
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4 0.4
Asian 1.3 3.4
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.1 0.1
Two or More Races 1.6 1.9
Hispanic or Latino 9.8 6.8

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 Hazleton Area School District Pennsylvania election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Hazleton Area School District elections (2017) - Google News

See also

Hazleton Area School District Pennsylvania School Boards
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Luzerne County, "Candidate Filing List (Unofficial)," accessed March 13, 2017
  2. ↑ Carbon County, "Election Summary Report: Unofficial Results," accessed May 17, 2017
  3. ↑ Luzerne County, "Municipal Primary Election - May 16, 2017: Unofficial Results," accessed May 17, 2017
  4. ↑ Schuylkill County Election Bureau, "HAZLETON AREA School District Unofficial Final Results," accessed May 17, 2017
  5. ↑ Pennsylvania School Boards Association, "How to Run for School Board," accessed March 21, 2017
  6. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 21, 2017
  7. ↑ VotesPA, "How to Register," accessed June 10, 2014
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named official
  9. ↑ Luzerne County, "Notice of Positions to Appear," accessed April 3, 2017
  10. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 30, 2017
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed April 19, 2017
  12. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Campaign Finance Reporting Law," accessed January 15, 2014
  13. ↑ 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
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 United States Census Bureau, "Luzerne County," accessed March 28, 2017
Hazleton Area School District elections in 2017
Luzerne, Schuylkill, and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania
Election date:Primary: May 16, 2017
General: November 7, 2017
Candidates:At-Large: Incumbent, James Chapman (D)(R) • Incumbent, Bob Mehalick (D)(R) • Robert Childs (D) • Linda Decosmo (D)(R) • Mark Scarcella (D)(R) • Ed Shemansky (D)(R) • Alexander Van Hoekelen (R)
Important information:What was at stake?
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