Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Jenna Ott

Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
Jenna Ott (Democratic Party) was an at-large member of the North Penn School District school board in Pennsylvania. Ott assumed office on December 14, 2017.
Ott (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the North Penn School District school board in Pennsylvania. Ott won in the general election on November 7, 2017.
Biography
Ott's professional experience includes working in marketing. She has also served as an Ithaca College Alumni Regional Committee board member. Ott earned her B.S. in communications from Ithaca College.[1]
Elections
2017
Five seats on the North Penn School District school board were up for general election on November 7, 2017. Four seats were up for regular election and one seat was up for special election for a two-year term, due to the death of former board member Carolyn Murphy. A partisan primary election for all five seats was held on May 16, 2017.
A total of eight candidates ran in the general election for the regular terms after all of them advanced from the primary. Four newcomer Democrats won the spots on the board: Christian Fusco, Jonathan Kassa, Tina Stoll, and Mark Warren. Board incumbents Josephine Charnock, Patrick McGee Jr., and Frank O'Donnell cross-filed to run for re-election for both the Democratic and Republican parties in the primary election. They were joined on the ballot by newcomers Fusco, Kassa, Thomas Mancini, Stoll, and Warren, who all cross-filed to run in the primary election. Stoll, Fusco, Warren, and Kassa took the Democratic nominations for the four-year terms, and O'Donnell, Mancini, McGee, and Charnock took the Republican nominations.
In the special election for the two-year term, Jenna Ott defeated Michelle Rupp in the general. Ott won the Democratic nomination and Rupp won the Republican nomination in the primary.[2]
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.[3]
McGee Jr., Mancini, O'Donnell, Charnock, and Rupp ran as part of a candidate slate.[4]
General results
North Penn School District, At-Large Special Election, 2-year term, 2017 |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Democratic | ![]() |
55.84% | 9,893 | |
Republican | Michelle Rupp | 44.16% | 7,824 | |
Total Votes | 17,717 | |||
Source: Bucks County, "Municipal Election Tuesday, November 7, 2017," accessed November 8, 2017 and Montgomery County, "Unofficial Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. |
Democratic primary results
North Penn School District, At-Large Democratic Primary Special Election, 2-year term, 2017 |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Democratic | ![]() |
80.49% | 3,582 | |
Democratic | Michelle Rupp | 19.51% | 868 | |
Write-in votes | 0% | 0 | ||
Total Votes | 4,450 | |||
Source: Bucks County, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed June 20, 2017 and Montgomery County, "2017 Primary Election Official Results," accessed June 20, 2017 |
Republican primary results
North Penn School District, At-Large Republican Primary Special Election, 2-year term, 2017 |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Republican | ![]() |
62.20% | 2,258 | |
Republican | Jenna Ott | 37.71% | 1,369 | |
Write-in votes | 0.08% | 3 | ||
Total Votes | 3,630 | |||
Source: Bucks County, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed June 20, 2017 and Montgomery County, "2017 Primary Election Official Results," accessed June 20, 2017 |
Funding
2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Pennsylvania[5] | |
---|---|
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.[6]
The table to the left details the four campaign finance deadlines in 2017.[5]
Campaign themes
2017
Ott submitted the below information to Ballotpedia in answer to the question "What is your political philosophy?"[1]
“ | I made the decision to run for North Penn School Board because I feel that public education is at a cross roads. I believe that it will require bi-partisan cooperation, community involvement, and leadership that is dedicated to doing what is best for all members of the community.[7] | ” |
—Jenna Ott (2017) |
Ott added the following to her statement:[1]
“ | North Penn School District has been limited by a board largely accepting of the status quo. We are at a point where it is necessary to embrace innovation, disruption, creativity, and progress in order to drive education forward. As a community, we must embrace candidates that stand for the advancement of public education and who will fight for excellence in education for every single student in our district. We have an opportunity to be a leader among districts in the state of Pennsylvania. That is a goal that I believe we should do everything we can to achieve. And the only way we will achieve that goal is with a change in leadership and a new vision for North Penn School District.[7] | ” |
—Jenna Ott (2017) |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Information submitted on Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form on May 24, 2017
- ↑ Montgomery County, "Official Candidate List," accessed May 11, 2017
- ↑ Bucks County, "Candidate List Municipal Election, November 7, 2017," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Quality Education Matters, "Home," accessed May 15, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed April 19, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Campaign Finance Reporting Law," accessed January 15, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
North Penn School District elections in 2017 | |
Bucks County, Pennsylvania and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania | |
Election date: | Primary: May 16, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
Candidates: | At-Large (regular): Incumbent, Josephine Charnock (R) • Incumbent, Patrick McGee Jr. (R) • Incumbent, Frank O'Donnell (R) • Christian Fusco (D) • Jonathan Kassa (D) • Thomas Mancini (R) • Tina Stoll (D) • Mark Warren (D) At-Large (special): Jenna Ott (D) • Michelle Rupp (R) |
Important information: | What was at stake? |