Hernan Illingworth
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Hernan Illingworth is a Democratic at-large representative on the Bridgeport Public Schools Board of Education in Connecticut. Illingworth won a first term in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Elections
2017
Six of nine seats on the Bridgeport Public Schools Board of Education in Connecticut were up for at-large election on November 7, 2017. One of the seats was up for special election due to a resignation on the board. In this race, Sybil Allen (D) defeated James Carbone (R) for a two-year term.[1] In the race for the four-year terms, incumbent John Weldon (R) won, along with former member Hernan Illingworth (D) and newcomers Jessica Martinez (D), Chris Taylor (R), and Joseph Sokolovic, who ran as both a Republican and Working Families Party candidate. Chaila Robinson (D), though she received the third-highest vote total, was not elected due to a state minority election law that prevents one political party from controlling more than two-thirds of the board's seats. In this election, Democrats were only able to elect three candidates, leaving the other seats open for other parties.[2][3] Incumbent Howard Gardner (Working Families Party) lost his seat. Shavonne Davis, who accompanied Gardner on the Working Families Party ticket, and Sara Lewis, a petitioning candidate, also lost.[4][5][6]
| Bridgeport Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Jessica Martinez |
20.81% | 3,483 | |
| Democratic | Hernan Illingworth |
19.97% | 3,342 | |
| Democratic | Chaila Robinson | 18.93% | 3,168 | |
| Republican/WFP | Joseph Sokolovic |
9.72% | 1,626 | |
| Republican | John Weldon Incumbent |
8.89% | 1,487 | |
| Republican | Chris Taylor |
6.83% | 1,143 | |
| Working Families Party | Howard Gardner Incumbent | 6.74% | 1,128 | |
| Working Families Party | Shavonne Davis | 5.07% | 848 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sara Lewis | 2.81% | 471 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.23% | 38 | ||
| Total Votes | 16,734 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Election Center: 2017 November Municipal Election," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
2015
Opposition
Four seats on the Bridgeport Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015. A Democratic primary election was held September 16, 2015. Four at-large incumbents' seats were up for election in 2015: Jacquelline Kelleher (D), Hernan Illingworth (D), Kadisha Coates (WFP) and Kenneth Moales Jr. (D). Kelleher, however, resigned from the board on July 31, 2015, to move to New Hampshire.[7] Mary "Kate" Rivera was appointed to fill the vacancy on August 24, 2015. Rivera made it clear at the time that she had no intention to run for a full term in the election.[8] Ultimately, none of the incumbents retained their seats.
Incumbents Illingworth and Coates received the Democratic nominations along with candidate Faith Harrison-Villegas. Their nominations, however, were challenged by primary petitioners Dennis Bradley, Ben Walker and Maria Pereira. The Republican Party nominated John Weldon and Kevin McSpirit. The Connecticut Working Families Party nominated Karen Jackson, as well as Democratic candidate Bradley.
Cross-nominated candidate Bradley, fellow Democratic petitioning challenger Walker and former board member Pereira advanced to the general election.[9][10] The three primary winners also took the top three spots in the general election. McSpirit placed fourth, securing one seat for the Republicans.[11]
Results
Democratic primary
| Bridgeport Public Schools, At-Large, Democratic Primary, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Dennis Bradley |
17.5% | 5,811 |
| Ben Walker |
17.0% | 5,648 |
| Maria Pereira |
16.9% | 5,625 |
| Faith Harrison-Villegas | 16.8% | 5,597 |
| Kadisha Coates Incumbent | 16.3% | 5,425 |
| Hernan Illingworth Incumbent | 15.6% | 5,188 |
| Total Votes | 33,294 | |
| Source: CT Post, "Bridgeport primary election returns," September 16, 2015 and CT Post, "Recounts settle some, not all races," September 24, 2015 These election results are not official and will be updated when certified results are available. You can submit certified results by contacting us. |
||
Funding
The Bridgeport Town Clerk's office does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign themes
2015
Illingworth was interviewed by Linda Conner Lambeck of the Connecticut News Blogs. Below are the questions and his responses.
| “ | 1. Tell me a little bit about yourself and why you would make a good school board member.
I have been a very involved parent for 13 years. PAC President at two local Schools and served as Dist PAC President for four years. I am currently serving on the Board of Education. My experience as a board member, working with parents and volunteering in the schools has given me a lot of knowledge of our education system. Most importantly I have a vested interest to serve on the BOE. My daughter received her whole education in Bridgeport and just graduated from Central High School and is attending a four year college. Our students can make it!! What would you seek to change in the next year in the Bridgeport Public School system. What is your first priority. Making our schools more accountable has always been and will continue to be my biggest passion. As a parent and volunteering in the schools I seen the lack of accountability. Most often things are pushed and the norm is “Its Bridgeport we cant help every student” I don’t believe that excuse. Its not an option we have to serve the needs of every student. Lets stop putting them off because of where they live. Lets raise the expectations of our students and we will see most students will rise to that level. A perfect example is our Magnet Schools there are the same kids from the worst neighborhoods, The expectations are higher!! The last thing I would like to point out is that accountability and raising expectations is FREE. 3. Name something you think the school system is doing right. What is positive that should be built upon. I strongly believe we are heading in the right direction. There is an awful lot of work to do but I realized over the years that our district has had no real continuity. We change course way too many times before actually giving it a real chance. I feel we have a good district plan lets fully support that plan and create a solid evaluation plan so that we can measure on how we are doing. 4. Anything else you want the public to know about you. I have always been dedicated to the school district I believe in real public service. I believe all our students can learn. I have a vested interest, I have no personal agenda, I am not running to seek revenge as other candidates. My only agenda is putting kids first. I am a firm believer that at the end of the day its not about me its only about the kids. Let this election be about the students they deserve honest dedicated BOE members that will always advocate on their behalf and will be willing to put their personal feelings aside for the betterment of them. |
” |
| —Hernan Illingworth, (September 2015)[13] | ||
Recent news
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See also
- Bridgeport Public Schools, Connecticut
- Bridgeport Public Schools elections (2017)
- Bridgeport Public Schools elections (2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ CT Post, "Six Bridgeport school board seats open in the fall," July 16, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut General Assembly, "Minority Representation and Changes to Party Affiliation," February 24, 1998
- ↑ Connecticut Post, "New members elected to city’s board of education," November 7, 2017
- ↑ Marielle Bricker "Email communication with Bridgeport Town Clerk," August 21, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Bridgeport Sample Ballot," accessed October 20, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Election Center: 2017 November Municipal Election," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ ctpost.com, "Bridgeport BOE loses a member," August 3, 2015
- ↑ Education Bridgeport!, "BOE Appoints Bridgeport Parent Kate Rivera As Newest Member," August 25, 2015
- ↑ CT Post, "Bridgeport primary election returns," September 16, 2015
- ↑ CT Post, "Recounts settle some, not all races," September 24, 2015
- ↑ CT Post, "Bridgeport primary election returns," September 16, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Connecticut News Blogs, "So you want to be a Bridgeport school board member?" September 15, 2015
| Bridgeport Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Fairfield County, Connecticut | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large (4-year): Incumbent, Hernan Illingworth • Incumbent, John Weldon • Jessica Martinez • Chaila Robinson • Joseph Sokolovic • Chris Taylor • Sara Lewis • Shavonne Davis • Howard Gardner At-large (2-year): Sybil Allen • James Carbone |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
| 2015 Bridgeport Public Schools Elections | |
| Fairfield County, Connecticut | |
| Election date: | Primary election - September 16, 2015 General election - November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Candidates: • Incumbent, Hernan Illingworth (D) • Dennis Bradley (WFP) • Incumbent, Kadisha Coates (D) • Faith Harrison-Villegas (D) • Karen Jackson (WFP) • Kevin McSpirit (R) • Maria Pereira (D) • Ben Walker (D) • John Weldon (R) |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
