John Weldon
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John Weldon is a Republican at-large representative on the Bridgeport Public Schools Board of Education in Connecticut. Weldon was initially appointed to the position in 2016. Weldon won a new term in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Biography
Weldon earned his undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Bridgeport. He has worked since 2010 as a grants and procurement manager with Greater Bridgeport Transit.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3][4] 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.[5][6][7]
| 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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10][11] The three primary winners also took the top three spots in the general election. McSpirit placed fourth, securing one seat for the Republicans.[12]
Results
| ELECTORAL FUSION: Bridgeport Public Schools, At-Large, General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic/WFP | Dennis Bradley |
27.3% | 11,961 | |
| Democratic | Ben Walker |
25.8% | 11,320 | |
| Democratic | Maria Pereira |
24.6% | 10,792 | |
| Republican | Kevin McSpirit |
8.1% | 3,536 | |
| Republican | John Weldon | 7.6% | 3,349 | |
| Working Families Party | Karen Jackson | 6.6% | 2,890 | |
| Total Votes (100% of precincts reporting) | 43,848 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Prescribed Form for Return of Votes Cast at a Municipal Election: Bridgeport," Novemeber 3, 2015 | ||||
| FULL BY-PARTY RESULTS: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Ben Walker | 25.8% | 11,320 | |
| Democratic | Maria Pereira | 24.6% | 10,792 | |
| Democratic | Dennis Bradley | 24.3% | 10,641 | |
| Republican | Kevin McSpirit | 8.1% | 3,536 | |
| Republican | John Weldon | 7.6% | 3,349 | |
| Working Families Party | Karen Jackson | 6.6% | 2,890 | |
| Working Families Party | Dennis Bradley | 3% | 1,320 | |
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.
2013
Weldon lost election to the board against seven other candidates for five available seats on November 5, 2013. He earned the Republican Party endorsement in the election along with fellow challengers Steve Best and Joe Larcheveque.
Results
| Bridgeport Public Schools, General Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Dave Hennessey |
20.1% | 940 | |
| Democratic | Howard Gardner |
15.7% | 731 | |
| Republican | Joe Larcheveque |
15.1% | 706 | |
| Democratic | Andre Baker, Jr. |
15.3% | 714 | |
| Republican | Steve Best | 11.8% | 550 | |
| Republican | John Weldon | 10.3% | 482 | |
| Working Families | Eric Stewart-Alicea | 4.2% | 194 | |
| Working Families | Sauda Baraka Incumbent |
4% | 186 | |
| Working Families | Andre Baker, Jr. | 3.6% | 167 | |
| Total Votes | 4,670 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Municipal Elections - November 5, 2013," accessed December 16, 2013 | ||||
Campaign finance
John Weldon reported no contributions or expenditures to the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms John Weldon Bridgeport Public Schools school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Bridgeport Public Schools, Connecticut
- Bridgeport Public Schools elections (2017)
- Bridgeport Public Schools elections (2015)
- Bridgeport Public Schools elections (2013)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "John Weldon," accessed October 7, 2013
- ↑ 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
| 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 |
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