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Jeffco Public Schools elections (2017)
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Three of the five seats on the Jeffco Public Schools Board of Education in Colorado were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. In his bid for re-election to District 1, incumbent Brad Rupert defeated Matt Van Gieson. The District 2 race included incumbent Susan Harmon and Erica Shields. Harmon won re-election. District 5 incumbent Ron Mitchell ran unopposed and won another term on the board.[1] The three incumbents ran together as the Keep Jeffco Moving Forward candidate slate. They all won election to the board in a 2015 recall election.[2][3]
The 2017 election had a higher percentage of unopposed seats on the ballot compared to the district's previous two elections. For information on election trends in the district, click here.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Jeffco Board of Education consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held on a staggered basis so that two or three seats are up for election every odd-numbered year in November. Though members run for seats in specific geographic districts, elections are held at large.[4]
To qualify to run for school board, candidates had to be residents of the school district and registered voters for a minimum of 12 consecutive months before the election. They also could not have been convicted of a sexual offense against a child. To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination petitions containing 50 signatures of eligible voters in the school district by September 1, 2017.[5]
Colorado voters were allowed to register to vote through election day.[6] Photo identification was not required to vote in Colorado.[7]
Candidates and results
District 1
Results
| Jeffco Public Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Brad Rupert Incumbent |
60.49% | 75,034 |
| Matt Van Gieson | 39.51% | 49,000 |
| Total Votes | 124,034 | |
| Source: Colorado Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed August 28, 2023 | ||
Candidates
Brad Rupert 
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Matt Van Gieson | ||
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District 2
Results
| Jeffco Public Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Susan Harmon Incumbent |
59.62% | 73,914 |
| Erica Shields | 40.38% | 50,053 |
| Total Votes | 123,967 | |
| Source: Jefferson Coun[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CO/71802/Web02-state/#/c/C_2 Colorado Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed August 28, 2023 | ||
Candidates
| Susan Harmon
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Erica Shields | ||
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District 5
Results
| Jeffco Public Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Ron Mitchell Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 98,266 |
| Total Votes | 98,266 | |
| Source: Colorado Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed August 28, 2023 | ||
Candidates
| Ron Mitchell
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Colorado elections, 2017
The Jeffco Board of Education election shared the ballot with elections for Golden City Council.[8]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the 2017 Colorado school board elections.[9][10]
Endorsements
The Keep Jeffco Moving Forward slate (incumbents Brad Rupert, Susan Harmon, and Ron Mitchell) were endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[11][12]
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Jeffco Students First Action endorsed Matt Van Gieson and Erica Shields.[13] They were also supported by the Jeffco Republicans Men's Club.[14]
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
Candidates received a total of $167,479.39 and spent a total of $163,732.74 in the election, according to the Colorado Secretary of State.[15]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | |||
| Brad Rupert | $53,352.34 | $52,058.50 | $1,293.84 |
| Matt Van Gieson | $3,555.89 | $3,397.53 | $158.36 |
| District 2 | |||
| Susan Harmon | $54,092.33 | $52,305.77 | $1,786.56 |
| Erica Shields | $4,938.50 | $4,603.79 | $334.71 |
| District 5 | |||
| Ron Mitchell | $51,540.33 | $51,367.15 | $173.18 |
Reporting requirements
School board candidates in Colorado were required to file three campaign finance reports. The reports were due on October 17, 2017, November 3, 2017, and December 7, 2017.[10]
Past elections
- See also: Past elections in Jeffco Public Schools
To see results from past elections in Jeffco Public Schools, click here.
What was at stake?
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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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
Election trends
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
The 2017 Jeffco Board of Education election had the highest percentage of unopposed seats out of three election cycles covered by Ballotpedia. Five candidates ran for three seats in 2017, which left one seat unopposed. No seats were unopposed in the district's 2013 election, and one of the five seats on the ballot in the district's 2015 election was unopposed.
Newcomers swept the ballot in both 2013 and 2015. In 2017, incumbents won every seat on the ballot.
| School board election trends | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbents running for re-election | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Jeffco Public Schools | ||||||
| 2017 | 1.67 | 33.33% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| 2015* | 2.00 | 20.00% | 60.00% | 0.00% | 100.00% | |
| 2013 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 0.00% | Not applicable | 100.00% | |
| Colorado | ||||||
| 2015 | 1.77 | 30.77% | 55.38% | 83.33% | 53.85% | |
| United States | ||||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 70.37% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
| *This election includes both a general election and a recall election. | ||||||
Issues in the district
Board appoints new superintendent
The Jeffco Board of Education unanimously appointed Dr. Jason Glass as superintendent of the district on May 16, 2017. He started serving in the role on July 1, 2017.[16]
Glass replaced former Superintendent Dan McMinimee, who served the district from May 2014 to March 2017. He continued to serve in an advisory role in the district until June 30, 2017, while Terry Elliott served as interim superintendent until Glass took over the position. McMinimee transitioned to the advisory role as part of a mutual agreement with the board. His contract was adjusted so that he could serve the district in the new role until it expired on June 30, 2017.[17]
About the district
- See also: Jeffco Public Schools, Colorado
The Jeffco school district is located in Jefferson County in central Colorado. The county seat is Golden. The county was home to an estimated 571,837 residents in 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[18] The district was the second-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 86,581 students.[19]
Demographics
Jefferson County outperformed Colorado as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 41.6 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 38.1 percent of state residents. During the same time period, the median household income was $70,164, compared to $60,629 statewide. The poverty rate in Jefferson County was 7.9 percent, while it was 11.5 percent for the entire state.[18]
| Racial Demographics, 2016[18] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Jefferson County (%) | Colorado (%) |
| White | 92.1 | 87.5 |
| Black or African American | 1.3 | 4.5 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Asian | 2.9 | 3.3 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Two or More Races | 2.4 | 3.0 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 15.2 | 21.3 |
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 Jeffco Public Schools Colorado election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Jeffco Public Schools | Colorado | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Jeffco Public Schools, "Election 2017," accessed September 2, 2017
- ↑ Keep Jeffco Moving Forward, "Home," accessed October 24, 2017
- ↑ El Paso County Elections Office, "Unofficial Results: HARRISON SCHOOL DISTRICT 2 DIRECTOR," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Jeffco Public Schools, "Board Members," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Association of School Boards, "2017 Elections School Board Candidate Guide," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Voter Registration FAQs," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Acceptable Forms of Identification," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ City of Golden, "2017 Elections," accessed September 14, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed August 28, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Colorado Secretary of State, "2017 Biennial School Election Calendar," accessed August 28, 2017
- ↑ Arvada Press, "Teacher unions support incumbents for Jeffco school board," October 18, 2017
- ↑ Keep Jeffco Moving Forward, "Endorsements," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Jeffco Students First Action, "2017 School Board Election," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Support Jeffco Kids, "2017 Endorsements," accessed October 24, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "TRACER: Candidate Search," accessed December 18, 2017
- ↑ 9 News, "New Jeffco superintendent unanimously approved," May 16, 2017
- ↑ Denver Post, "Dan McMinimee to get superintendent’s wages while serving as Jeffco board adviser," March 10, 2017
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts: Jefferson County, Colorado; Colorado," accessed August 31, 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
| Jeffco Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Jefferson County, Colorado | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District 1: • Incumbent, Brad Rupert • Matt Van Gieson District 2: • Incumbent, Susan Harmon • Erica Shields District 5: • Incumbent, Ron Mitchell |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
