Jeremy Stephenson

Jeremy Stephenson

Education

Bachelor's

University of Virginia

Law

Loyola University

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Jeremy Stephenson was a candidate for District 5 representative on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education in North Carolina. Stephenson was defeated in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.

Stephenson was an unsuccessful candidate in the general election on November 3, 2015.

Biography

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Stephenson's professional experience includes working as an attorney and equity shareholder at McNair Law Firm. He has also volunteered as a pro bono attorney for the Council for Children's Rights. Stephenson earned his J.D. from the Chicago School of Law at Loyola University and his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Virginia.

Elections

2017

See also: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools elections (2017)

Six of the nine seats on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education in North Carolina were up for by-district general election on November 7, 2017. A total of 20 candidates filed for the seats.

District 1 saw board member Rhonda Lennon defeat challengers Annette Albright, Amy Hallman, and Jess Miller. In District 2, incumbent Thelma Byers-Bailey filed for re-election and defeated newcomer Lenora Shipp. District 3 board member Ruby Jones defeated former candidate Janeen Bryant, Emmitt Butts, former candidate Levester Flowers, Blanche Penn, and Olivia Scott in the race for the seat. In District 4, Carol Sawyer defeated Queen Thompson and Stephanie Sneed in the race for the open spot on the board. District 5 saw Margaret Marshall defeat Jim Peterson and former candidate Jeremy Stephenson in the race for the open seat, and District 6 saw Sean Strain defeat Allen Smith in the race for the open seat.

Results

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Margaret Marshall	64.10%	21,177
Jeremy Stephenson	19.28%	6,369
Jim Peterson	16.16%	5,339
Write-in votes	0.47%	155
Total Votes		33,040
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, "11/07/2017 Unofficial General Election Results - Mecklenburg," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

2015

See also: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools elections (2015)

Three of the nine seats on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education were up for election on November 3, 2015. The seats represent the district at-large.

The seats of incumbents Ericka Ellis-Stewart, Mary T. McCray, and Timothy Morgan were up for election. Morgan did not run for re-election. Ellis-Stewart and McCray won re-election to their seats. Newcomer Elyse Dashew won the open seat left by Morgan. The other six candidates—Angela Ambroise, Janeen Bryant, Larry Bumgarner, Levester Flowers, Jeremy Stephenson, and Amelia Stinson-Wesley— were defeated in the election.

Results

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, At-Large, 4-year Term, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ericka Ellis-Stewart Incumbent	18.3%	36,922
Elyse Dashew	14.9%	29,955
Mary T. McCray Incumbent	13.8%	27,709
Jeremy Stephenson	11.8%	23,701
Larry Bumgarner	10.9%	21,964
Janeen Bryant	10.6%	21,270
Amelia Stinson-Wesley	7.4%	14,979
Angela Ambroise	6.3%	12,775
Levester Flowers	5.7%	11,530
Write-in votes	0.23%	453
Total Votes		201,258
Source: North Carolina Secretary of State, "11/03/2015 Official General Election Results," accessed November 30, 2015

Funding

See also: Campaign finance in Charolette-Mecklenberg Schools elections (2015)

Stephenson reported $48,171.38 in contributions and $43,107.74 in expenditures to the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, which left his campaign with $5,063.64 on hand as of March 7, 2015.

Endorsements

Stephenson received the following official endorsements in this election:

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education members Timothy Morgan, Rhonda Lennon Cheek, and Paul Bailey
• Charlotte City Council member Edmund H. Driggs
• North Carolina House of Representatives Dan Bishop (R-104), John Bradford (R-98), Rob Bryan (R-88), D. Craig Horn (R-68), and Charles Jeter (R-92)
• North Carolina Senators Bob Rucho (R-39) and Jeff Tarte (R-41)

Campaign themes

2015

Stephenson highlighted the following priorities on his campaign website:

“	Outreach to business and community CMS attention and messaging tightly focuses first on current K-12 parents, second to teachers. Needs, including teacher salaries, and school construction, are vast, unlikely adequately met by the County, by Raleigh, or by Washington. CMS must better connect with the business community, and those in our community without current K-12 children, both to trumpet successes, and make aware of the pressing needs. Broadening the tent is a recurring theme. Public confidence in functioning Board The sudden departure of Heath Morrison left the community once again shaking its head about the CMS Board. The search for his permanent replacement, and further school assignment boundary changes, loom in the immediate future. It is critical that Board members understand the role of the Board, the General Counsel, and the Superintendent, under policies and applicable Statutes. Jeremy’s professional legal training and real experience in corporate governance, appropriate use of outside legal counsel, and confidentiality and conflicts of interest, are sorely needed on the CMS BoE. Financial oversight to plan for the future The CMS School Bond package in 2013 ($290 million) was almost three times smaller than the school bonds passed in Wake County the same year (over $800 million). People are moving to Mecklenburg County from across the country as they have been for twenty years because life is better here. Strict financial oversight is needed to ensure precious resources are not wasted, and to find savings wherever possible. Workforce readiness/economic development Business leaders are demanding a more skilled workforce. CMS is doing great things, like Olympic-Bosch Rexroth advanced manufacturing. This needs to be far more robust, and system wide. There are simply too few internships available. Also, such business-school connections are prime attractor of economic development of our region. If our schools are the best, and the community vocally behind them, it will continue to drive business growth, and more jobs in our community. Candid conversation on generational poverty Over fifty percent of CMS students are eligible for food assistance, over 70,000 students. On my side of the County, generational poverty is rarely seen or even discussed, and it is said that some “merely want to throw money at the problem.” Generational poverty in our schools is an issue for our entire community, and real change will need more than “throwing money”; it will take experts, mentors, volunteers, tutors, corporate leaders, faith groups, everyone, coming to the table for a candid conversation about what works and how it can be implemented.	”
—Jeremy Stephenson (2015)

Recent news

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Jeremy Stephenson - Google News

See also

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools elections (2017)
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools elections (2015)

External links

Suggest a link

• Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools
• Jeremy Stephenson 2015 campaign website