Lancaster School District elections (2017)
2019 →
← 2015 |
|---|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Enrollment (14-15) |
|
|
Four seats on the Lancaster School District school board were up for general election on November 7, 2017. A partisan primary election was held on May 16, 2017. Incumbent Harvey Miller filed for re-election and was joined on the ballot by newcomers David Parry, Mara McGrann, Brandon Way, Sr., Salina Almanzar, and Ole Hongvanthong. All six candidates filed to run as Democrats. Miller, Parry, McGrann, and Almanzar advanced to the general election on November 7, 2017, where they won without opposition.[1][2][3]
These candidates could have faced independent candidates in the general election. However, no independent candidate filed by the August 1, 2017, deadline to get on the ballot.[4]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Lancaster school board is composed of nine at-large members serving four-year, staggered terms. Five seats were up for election on November 3, 2015, and four seats were up for election on November 7, 2017.
Cross-filing
Pennsylvania permits school board candidates to cross-file in primary elections. This means that a candidate may file to run in the primary election for both the Democratic and Republican parties. A cross-filed candidate can advance to the general election by winning one or both of the partisan primaries. This maximizes a candidate’s chances of advancing to the general as they have two ways to win in the primary round. If the candidate wins only one, they face the winner of the other primary in the general election. Cross-filers who win both primaries may still face independent candidates in the general election.
General candidate requirements
To run for a school board in Pennsylvania, one must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old, and a resident of the school district for at least one year before the election date. To run in this 2017 school board election, partisan candidates had to file for office by March 7, 2017, and independent candidates had to file by August 1, 2017.[5][6]
Voter requirements
To vote in Pennsylvania, a resident must be a U.S. citizen for at least one month and a resident of the district in which he or she is registering for at least 30 days before the election. A voter must be at least 18 years of age by the next election date. The deadline to register to vote before the primary election was April 17, 2017, and the deadline to register to vote before the general election was October 10, 2017.[7]
- See also: Voting in Pennsylvania and Voter identification laws by state
Candidates and results
At-Large general
Results
| Lancaster School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Salina Almanzar |
25.97% | 6,076 | |
| Democratic | Mara McGrann |
25.56% | 5,980 | |
| Democratic | Harvey Miller Incumbent |
24.30% | 5,687 | |
| Democratic | David Parry |
24.18% | 5,657 | |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 | ||
| Total Votes | 23,400 | |||
| Source: Lancaster County, "Current Election Results - School Director Lancaster," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Candidates
 Harvey Miller 
|
David Parry
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| Mara McGrann
|
Salina Almanzar
| ||
|
|
|
||
At-Large primary
Results
| Lancaster School District, At-Large Democratic Primary Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Salina Almanzar |
22.59% | 2,992 | |
| Democratic | Mara McGrann |
22.50% | 2,980 | |
| Democratic | David Parry |
16.70% | 2,212 | |
| Democratic | Harvey Miller Incumbent |
15.39% | 2,038 | |
| Democratic | Brandon Way, Sr. | 11.89% | 1,575 | |
| Democratic | Ole Hongvanthong | 10.68% | 1,415 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.24% | 32 | ||
| Total Votes | 13,244 | |||
| Source: County of Lancaster, "Primary Returns–School Director Lancaster," accessed June 20, 2017 | ||||
Defeated in primary
| Brandon Way, Sr.
|
Ole Hongvanthong
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
||
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2017
The Lancaster School District general election shared the ballot with elections for:[4]
- State judges
- Local trial court judges
- County controller
- Recorder of deeds
- Sheriff
- Mayor
- City controller
- City treasurer
The Lancaster School District primary election shared the ballot with primary elections for state judges, Lancaster County judge of the Court of Common Pleas, controller, and recorder of deeds, and Lancaster City mayor, controller, and treasurer.[2]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for this Pennsylvania school board election in 2017:[8]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| March 7, 2017 | Partisan candidate filing deadline |
| April 17, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote before the primary election |
| May 16, 2017 | Primary election day |
| August 1, 2017 | Independent candidate filing deadline |
| October 10, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote before the general election |
| November 7, 2017 | General election day |
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Ballotpedia was unable to obtain campaign finance reports submitted by candidates in this race. The Lancaster County Board of Elections keeps hard copies of the reports and does not release them electronically.[9]
| 2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Pennsylvania[10] | |
|---|---|
| Date | Deadline |
| May 5, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Primary report due |
| June 15, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Primary report due |
| October 27, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Election report due |
| December 7, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Election report due |
School board candidates in Pennsylvania were required to report their campaign finance activity. Those who spent or received more than $250 in a reporting period had to file full reports. Those below the threshold had to file forms to declare they were exempt from reporting. Candidates could have, but were not required to, form committees to handle campaign finance transactions. They were not required to have separate bank accounts for campaign purposes.[11]
The table to the left details the four campaign finance deadlines in 2017.[10]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015
2013
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
|
|
Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
About the district
- See also: Lancaster School District, Pennsylvania
Lancaster School District is located in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. The seat of county government is Lancaster. Lancaster County was home to an estimated 538,500 residents between 2010 and 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the 12th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 11,259 students.[12][13]
Demographics
Lancaster County underperformed in comparison to Pennsylvania as a whole in terms of higher education attainment from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 25.2 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 28.6 percent for all state residents. The median household income in the county was $57,721, compared to $53,599 for the state as a whole. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 10.6 percent, while that rate was 13.2 percent for state residents.[13]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[13] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Lancaster County (%) | Pennsylvania (%) |
| White | 90.4 | 82.6 |
| Black or African American | 4.9 | 11.7 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Asian | 2.3 | 3.4 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 1.9 | 1.9 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 10.1 | 6.8 |
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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Lancaster School District Pennsylvania election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Lancaster School District | Pennsylvania | School Boards |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ County of Lancaster, "Primary Returns–School Director Lancaster," accessed May 16, 2017These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lancaster County, "Unofficial Candidates for Public Office for May 16, 2017 Municipal Primary," accessed March 9, 2017
- ↑ Lancaster County, "Current Election Results - School Director Lancaster," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lancaster County, "Official Candidate Listing for Public Office for November 7, 2017 Municipal Election," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania School Boards Association, "How to Run for School Board," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ VotesPA, "How to Register," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Randall Wenger, Chief Clerk/Registrar, Lancaster County Board of Elections and Registration Commission," June 20, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed April 19, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Campaign Finance Reporting Law," accessed January 15, 2014
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 United States Census Bureau, "Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," accessed March 24, 2017
| Lancaster School District elections in 2017 | |
| Lancaster County, Pennsylvania | |
| Election date: | Primary: May 16, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-Large: Incumbent, Harvey Miller (D) • David Parry (D) • Mara McGrann (D) • Brandon Way, Sr. (D) • Salina Almanzar (D) • Ole Hongvanthong (D) |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
