Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
John Murchison
John Murchison was an independent candidate for District 14 representative on the St. Tammany Parish Public Schools. He was defeated in the special election on March 28, 2015, which was held to fill the vacancy created by Ray Anthony Alfred's (D) death in 2014. This was Murchison's first campaign for public office.[1]
Biography
Murchison was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and graduated from West Seneca High School. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in accounting from Norfolk State University in Virginia.[1]
Murchison is a senior business developer with CLECO.[1] He is the associate life director of the St. Tammany Home Builders Association and a board member of Keep Slidell Beautiful (KSB). He co-chairs the KSB Golf Committee.[2]
Murchison is married and has two children.[1]
Elections
2014
Two seats on the St. Tammany Parish Board of Education were up for special election in 2015, following the deaths of two sitting board members.
The District 14 seat was up for special election on March 28, 2015. The seat became vacant after incumbent Ray Anthony Alfred (D) died on September 17, 2014, at the age of 60 shortly after his automatic re-election in his uncontested 2014 election bid.[3] The vacancy on the school board created by his death was filled by a board appointment. Alfred's father, Anthony Alfred, was elected by the board to fill the vacancy in October 2014.[4]
Anthony Alfred did not file to run for the remainder of his son's unexpired term. Two candidates, Dennis "Coach" Cousin (D) and John Murchison (I) filed for the race on February 4, 2015. Cousin won the open seat, maintaining the Democratic presence on the board.
The District 12 seat was scheduled for election on October 24, 2015, following the death of incumbent James "Ronnie" Panks Sr. (R) on January 14, 2015. Panks had also won re-election in an uncontested race in the 2014 election.[5]
Richard Hursey (R) was appointed on February 2, 2015, by the remaining board members to temporarily fill the vacancy created by Panks's death until the special election was held.[6] However, the District 12 special election was canceled as Hursey was the only candidate to file for the race.
Results
| St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, District 14 Special Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Dennis "Coach" Cousin |
65.6% | 550 | |
| Independent | John Murchison | 34.4% | 288 | |
| Total Votes | 838 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed April 3, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Murchison reported $6,200.00 in contributions and $4,729.56 in expenditures to the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, which left his campaign with $1,470.44 in cash on hand as of March 28, 2015.[7]
Endorsements
Murchison received no official endorsements in this election.
Campaign themes
2015
The Times-Picayune
Murchison told The Times-Picayune in an article covering the candidate filings for the race, "District 14 needs a school board member who will keep our children at the forefront when setting policy and who will work to find solutions that benefit our children and the entire school system."[2]
In a candidate profile by the news outlet, Murchison provided this platform:
| “ |
|
” |
| —John Murchison (2015)[1] | ||
Campaign video
kampussmakk, "John Murchison Runs For St. Tammany School Board District 14," February 20, 2015 |
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "John + Murchison + St. + Tammany + Parish + Public + Schools"
See also
- St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, Louisiana
- St. Tammany Parish Public Schools special elections (2015)
- Cousin wins St. Tammany District 14 seat; 9% of voters participate (March 30, 2015)
- Common Core testing looms over St. Tammany's District 14 special election (March 27, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Times-Picayune, "St. Tammany School Board, 14th District: Meet the candidates," March 10, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Times-Picayune, "Dennis Cousin, John Murchison to vie for open St. Tammany School Board post in March 28 election," February 6, 2015
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "St. Tammany Parish School Board member Ray Alfred dies," September 17, 2014
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "St. Tammany School Board taps familiar candidate to fill open seat," October 3, 2014
- ↑ The Advocate, "Ronnie Panks, longest-serving St. Tammany School Board member, dies at 69," February 5, 2015
- ↑ BayouBuzz.com, "St. Tammany School Board appoints Richard Hursey to open seat," February 2, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, "Louisiana Campaign Finance Reports," accessed April 24, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2015 St. Tammany Parish Public Schools Special Elections | |
| St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana | |
| Election date: | March 28, 2015 |
| Candidates: | District 14: • Dennis "Coach" Cousin (D) • John Murchison (I) District 12: • Incumbent, Richard Hursey (R) |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
