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Kent School District elections (2015)

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2013
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2015 Kent School District Elections

General Election date:
November 3, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district
Method of election
Elections
Key deadlines
Additional elections
External links
See also
Washington
Kent School District
King County, Washington ballot measures
Local ballot measures, Washington
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Three seats on the Kent School District Board of Directors were up for general election on November 3, 2015. District 1 incumbent Russell Hanscom, District 2 incumbent Karen DeBruler and District 3 incumbent Debbie Straus all won re-election to their second terms; all three were initially elected to the board in 2011.

While DeBruler and Straus won re-election without opposition, Hanscom faced a sole challenger, Trisha Sanders. While she initially filed to challenge Hanscom, Sanders decided to drop out of the race.[1] The decision, however, came after the withdrawal deadline. Her name still appeared on the ballot. The unopposed races also appeared on the ballot, and write-in votes were allowed.[2]

About the district

See also: Kent School District, Washington
Kent School District is located in King County, Wash.

Kent School District is located in King County in northwestern Washington. The county seat is Seattle. King County was home to an estimated 2,044,449 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[3] In the 2012-2013 school year, Kent School District was the fourth-largest school district in Washington, serving 27,518 students.[4]

Demographics

In 2013, King County outperformed the state of Washington as a whole in terms of higher education achievement, median household income and poverty rate. The United States Census Bureau found that 46.6 percent of county residents aged 25 and older had earned a bachelor's degree or higher, while the rate was 31.9 percent for state residents. The median household income was $71,811 in the county in comparison to $59,478 statewide. The rate of persons living below the poverty line in King County was 11.5 percent compared to 13.4 percent for Washington.[3]

Racial Demographics, 2013[3]
Race King County (%) Washington (%)
White 70.8 81.2
Black or African American 6.6 4.0
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.1 1.9
Asian 15.9 7.9
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.8 0.7
Two or More Races 4.8 4.4
Hispanic or Latino 9.3 11.9

Presidential Voting Pattern, King County[5]
Year Democratic Vote (%) Republican Vote (%)
2012 68.7 28.3
2008 70.0 28.0
2004 65.0 33.7
2000 60.0 34.4

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Voter and candidate information

The Kent School Board consists of five members elected by district to four-year terms. If more than two candidates had filed for any one position up for election, a primary election would have been held on August 4, 2015. The general election for Districts 1, 2 and 3 was November 3, 2015.

Elections in Washington require candidates to pay filing fees equal to 1 percent of a position's annual salary. Board members in Kent can be reimbursed up to $4,800 for district activities but do not receive salaries, which eliminates the filing fee.[6] Candidates were required to file for this election by May 15, 2015.

Elections

2015

District 1

Election results

Kent School District Board of Directors, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Russell Hanscom Incumbent 74.6% 15,665
Trisha Sanders 25.0% 5,260
Write-in votes 0.39% 82
Total Votes 21,007
Source: King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Elections November 4, 2015," November 24, 2015


Candidates

District 2

Election results

Kent School District Board of Directors, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Karen DeBruler Incumbent 98.9% 16,696
Write-in votes 1.07% 181
Total Votes 16,877
Source: King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Elections November 4, 2015," November 24, 2015


Candidates

District 3

Election results

Kent School District Board of Directors, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Debbie Straus Incumbent 98.9% 16,768
Write-in votes 1.11% 189
Total Votes 16,957
Source: King County Elections, "Election Results: General and Special Elections November 4, 2015," November 24, 2015


Candidates

Campaign finance

No contributions or expenditures were reported as of October 29, 2015, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission.[7]

Candidates who raised and spent no more than $5,000 in aggregate and who did not receive more than $500 from any one contributor, including themselves, could participate in "mini reporting." These candidates were required to file a candidate registration statement and keep a record of their contributors and expenditures, but they were not required to report them unless they exceed the stated thresholds. In those cases, they were required to switch their filing status from "mini" to "full" reporting by August 31, 2015.[8]

Contributions to school board candidate committees were subject to the following limits:[8]

  • State parties or caucus political committees (separately): $0.95 per registered voter from January 1 to December 31
  • County and legislative district parties (combined): $0.50 per registered voter from January 1 to December 31
  • Individuals, PACS, unions, corporations or other entities (separately): $950 per primary and general election

School board candidate committees were prohibited from receiving contributions from other candidate committees. No contributors except state committees of political parties could give more than $5,000 in aggregate in the 21 days prior to the election.[8]

Past elections

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the 2015 Washington school board elections:[9][10]

Deadline Event
May 11-15, 2015 Candidate filing period
May 18, 2015 Deadline for candidates to withdraw
October 13, 2015 Pre-general campaign finance report due
October 26, 2015 Voter registration deadline for general election
October 27, 2015 Pre-general campaign finance report due
November 3, 2015 Election Day
November 24, 2015 Election results certified
December 10, 2015 Post-general campaign finance report due
January 11, 2016 End of election cycle campaign finance report due

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kent School District Washington. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

Kent School District Washington School Boards
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External links

Footnotes