Julie Williams

• District 1
  • Incumbent, Julie Williams
  • Brad Rupert
• District 2
  • Incumbent, John Newkirk
  • Matt Dhieux
  • Susan Harmon
• District 3
  • Kim Johnson
  • Ali Lasell
• District 4
  • Tori Merritts
  • Amanda Stevens
• District 5
  • Incumbent, Ken Witt
  • Regan Benson
  • Ron Mitchell
  • Paula Noonan

This page was current at the end of the official's last term in office covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Julie Williams

Prior offices

Jeffco Board of Education District 1

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Personal

Profession

Healthcare professional

Contact

Personal website

Julie Williams was the District 1 representative on the Jeffco Board of Education in Colorado. She was first elected to the board in the general election on November 5, 2013, and served until November 19, 2015. Williams was voted out of office in the recall election on November 3, 2015.

Williams and former board members John Newkirk and Ken Witt were the governing majority on the Jeffco Board of Education. All three were elected to the board in 2013, and all three were recalled in November 2015. For the two years they were members, the board withstood controversy following the implementation of a merit pay plan and a board proposal for a committee to review the content of the AP U.S. History curriculum.

See also: What was at stake in the Jeffco recall election?

Biography

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Williams is a healthcare professional who manages an orthodontic office. Both she and her husband attended and graduated from Jeffco schools. The couple has two children.

Elections

2015

See also: Jeffco Public Schools recall, Colorado (2015)

An effort to recall three members of the Jeffco Public Schools Board of Education in Colorado was on the ballot on November 3, 2015. Board members Julie Williams, John Newkirk, and Ken Witt from Districts 1, 2, and 5, respectively, were ousted from office with more than 60 percent of voters in each district casting ballots in favor of recall.

A total of six candidates filed to replace the three incumbents up for recall. Brad Rupert ran for the seat held by Williams. Matt Dhieux and Susan Harmon campaigned for Newkirk's seat, and Regan Benson, Ron Mitchell, and Paula Noonan ran for Witt's seat. Rupert, Harmon, and Mitchell ran together as "The Clean Slate." All three slate members were elected to replace Williams, Newkirk, and Witt. They took office on November 19, 2015.

The other two seats on the board—District 3 and District 4—were also on the ballot on November 3, 2015. They were up for general election. Neither incumbent filed to retain her seat in that election, meaning the district welcomed an entirely new board on November 19, 2015.

Results

Julie Williams, Area 1 Board Member, Jeffco Public Schools
Result		Votes	Percentage
Recall		11,6789	64.32%
Retain		64,790	35.68%
Election results via: Jefferson County, "Official County Results," November 20, 2015

Successor candidate, Area 1 Board Member, Jeffco Public Schools
Result		Votes	Percentage
Brad Rupert		114550	100%
Election results via: Jefferson County, "Official County Results," November 20, 2015

Funding

Williams reported no contributions or expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State in the election. There were two political action committees, however, that opposed the recall election. The "Kids Are First Jeffco" PAC raised $170,000.00 in contributions and spent $156,512.93 in expenditures, which left its ending balance at $13,487.07 as of the election. The "For Better Public Schools" PAC raised a total of $34,561.51 and spent a total of $34,561.51 in the election, according to the Colorado Secretary of State.

2013

See also: Jeffco Public Schools elections (2013)

Williams defeated fellow newcomer Tonya Aultman-Bettridge on November 5, 2013.

Results

Jeffco Public Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Julie Williams	61%	82,868
	Nonpartisan	Tonya Aultman-Bettridge	39%	52,936
Total Votes				135,804
Source: Jefferson County Board of Elections, "2013 Coordinated Election," November 27, 2013

Funding

Williams reported $7,111.73 in contributions and $5,017.79 in expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State, which left her campaign with $2,093.94 on hand.

Endorsements

Williams was endorsed by the Colorado Women’s Alliance and Denver radio host, Mike Rosen.

Campaign themes

2015

Response to recall

See also: Recall target responses

The following statement appeared on the ballot with the candidate's name:

“	I ran for the Jeffco school board to fight for my two sons and kids like them, to be a voice for kids too often pushed aside. My son Randy is a special needs child with Autism who has been constantly bullied during his time in school. Ryan is academically gifted, and is constantly looking for new challenges. My experience as a mother of two very different boys has taught me that each child’s story is unique, and that we have a duty as adults to provide opportunities to every student. I promised during my campaign to ensure the needs of every child were being met. My work on the Jeffco school board has been guided by that promise. During my time on the school board, I voted to support academic opportunities for every child by allocating additional resources to both special needs kids like Randy and gifted kids like Ryan. I voted to respect parental decisions by funding all public school students fairly. I supported community members, teachers, and parents as they developed exciting new plans to help students in two of the district’s lowest-performing areas build brighter futures. I also voted to adopt new math and reading programs in elementary school, when kids who do not receive the help they need are most at risk of being left behind I am a proud Jefferson County native. I was born here, raised here, and educated here in Jefferson County Public Schools. It has been a distinct honor to serve the community to which I owe so much as a member of the Jefferson County Board of Education. Please vote No to let me continue working hard to meet the needs of Randy, Ryan, and the thousands of other unique children in Jefferson County.	”
—Julie Williams ballot statement (2015)

Candidate website

Williams highlighted the following values on her campaign website:

“	Local Control and Privacy Maintaining strong local control-as a district and community we have the ability to set our own high standards. Our children should not be subject to a centralized one size fits all curriculum. We should protect our children’s’ and teachers’ personal information. Inspire our children to be creative free thinkers who take personal responsibility. Parent Choice & Voice Excellent and improving schools should be rewarded and replicated. The superintendent should be accountable for both successful and failing schools. We need to significantly increase the number of choices parents have including traditional, charter, virtual, and home schooling. (The money should follow the student so all children get the best education possible.) Curriculum and teaching modules should be chosen at the local level. (I do not believe in the top down approach with a one size fits all mentality.) Parents should have the opportunity to choose a legitimate alternative to failing schools. Value parents and the community by having ‘The doors always open for questions approach,’ where the voice is valued, respected, and heard. Welcoming parents, grandparents and community members by making it easy to volunteer. Budget/Funding Reward our teachers based on merit and performance. Giving teachers a voice about what they need in the classroom for success. No one should be compelled to pay union dues to get or keep a job. Taxpayers should have complete transparency of the budget. Where is the money coming from and where is it going line by line. The district should implement zero based budgeting practices.	”
—Julie Williams' campaign website (2015)

Videos

Recall targets speak out with Evergreen Newspapers in September 2015.

Williams speaks about her campaign promises from 2013.

2013

Williams listed her campaign priorities as the following on her website:

“	Parents should not have to sacrifice local control over their schools in order to achieve high standards. Protect the privacy rights of our teachers, children, and families. All children should receive a quality education without the burden of another $1 billion tax increase on struggling families. Accountability for the superintendent and her staff. Excellent and improving schools should be rewarded and replicated. Give teachers a voice about what they need in the classroom. They should be rewarded based upon merit and success. Budget transparency should include open negotiations. Waive background fees for parents, grandparents, and community volunteers who help in our schools. Teach our children to be creative free thinkers who will take personal responsibility. With Julie the door will always be open. Your voice will be valued and heard.	”
—Julie Williams campaign website, (2013)

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms ”Julie Williams” ”Jeffco Public Schools”. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Julie Williams - Google News

See also

• Jeffco Public Schools, Colorado
• Jeffco Public Schools recall, Colorado (2015)
• Jeffco Public Schools elections (2013)
• Analysis of incumbency advantage in the 2014 school board elections
• Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
• What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)

External links

Suggest a link

• Jeffco Public Schools
• 2015 Campaign website
• Campaign Facebook page
• 2013 Campaign website