Las Cruces Public Schools elections (2017)
2019 →
← 2015 |
|---|
 |
|
|
| Enrollment (14-15) |
|
|
Three of the five seats on the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on February 7, 2017. District 1 incumbent Chuck Davis and District 2 incumbent Barbara Hall did not file to run for re-election, leaving two seats open for new members. Ray Jaramillo ran unopposed and won the District 1 seat. The District 2 race featured candidates Terrie Dallman, Ronald Fitzherbert, Allison Smith, and Charles Wendler, and Dallman won the election. District 3 incumbent Maria Flores defeated challengers MaryLou Barrio, Wanda Bowman, and Gerald Miller to win another term on the board.[1][2][3] Wendler unofficially withdrew from the District 2 race, and Barrio unofficially withdrew from the District 3 race. Their names still appeared on the ballot.[4]
At least two new members were guaranteed to join the board in 2017 due to open seats. The district also added two new members to the board in 2015. Click here for more elections trends in both the district and the state.
Candidates in this election participated in forums hosted by the League of Women Voters of Las Cruces. Click here to watch videos of those forums.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Las Cruces Board of Education consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held by district on a staggered basis every February of odd-numbered years. Two seats—from Districts 4 and 5—were up for election on February 3, 2015, and three seats—from Districts 1, 2, and 3—were up for election on February 7, 2017. There was no primary election.[5]
To be eligible to run for office, school board candidates had to live in the boundaries of the school district and be qualified electors of the state. To get on the ballot, they had to file on December 20, 2016. The deadline to withdraw as a candidate was January 3, 2017.[6][7]
To vote in this election, citizens of the school district had to register by January 10, 2017.[7] Photo identification was not required to vote in New Mexico.[8]
Candidates and results
District 1
Results
| Las Cruces Public Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ray Jaramillo (unopposed) |
100.00% | 248 |
| Total Votes | 248 | |
| Source: Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Janice Giron, Doña Ana County Elections Staff Coordinator," April 10, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Ray Jaramillo 
| |
|---|---|
|
|
|
District 2
Results
| Las Cruces Public Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Terrie Dallman |
59.42% | 451 |
| Allison Smith | 33.47% | 254 |
| Ronald Fitzherbert | 4.22% | 32 |
| Charles Wendler | 2.90% | 22 |
| Total Votes | 759 | |
| Source: Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Janice Giron, Doña Ana County Elections Staff Coordinator," April 10, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Terrie Dallman
|
Ronald Fitzherbert | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
||
| Allison Smith | Charles Wendler | ||
|
|
|
||
District 3
Results
| Las Cruces Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Maria Flores Incumbent |
65.18% | 831 |
| Wanda Bowman | 31.37% | 400 |
| Gerald Miller | 2.43% | 31 |
| MaryLou Barrio | 1.02% | 13 |
| Total Votes | 1,275 | |
| Source: Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Janice Giron, Doña Ana County Elections Staff Coordinator," April 10, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Maria Flores
|
MaryLou Barrio | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| Wanda Bowman | Gerald Miller | ||
|
|
|
||
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: New Mexico elections, 2017
No other elections shared the ballot with the Las Cruces Board of Education election.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for New Mexico school board elections in 2017.[6][7][9]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 20, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| January 3, 2017 | Candidate withdrawal deadline |
| January 10, 2017 | Voter registration deadline |
| February 7, 2017 | General election |
| March 1, 2017 | Board members take office |
| April 3, 2017 | Annual campaign finance report due (if applicable) |
Endorsements
The National Education Association (NEA)-Las Cruces and the Classified School Employees Council (CSEC) of Las Cruces endorsed District 1 candidate Ray Jaramillo, District 2 candidate Terrie Dallman, and District 3 incumbent Maria Flores.[10]
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
Candidates received a total of $21,165.00 and spent a total of $20,345.24 in the election, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State.[11]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | |||
| Ray Jaramillo | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| District 2 | |||
| Terrie Dallman | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Ronald Fitzherbert | $100.00 | $75.24 | $24.76 |
| Allison Smith | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Charles Wendler | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| District 3 | |||
| Maria Flores | $6,440.00 | $5,645.00 | $795.00 |
| MaryLou Barrio | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Wanda Bowman | $14,625.00 | $14,625.00 | $0.00 |
| Gerald Miller | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015District 4
District 5
2013
2011
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
2017
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2015
Two new members were guaranteed to join the Las Cruces Board of Education in 2017 due to open seats. The one incumbent who ran to retain her seat was elected to another term.
Two new members were also added to the board in 2015. That year, one new member won an open seat, and another defeated an incumbent to win a term on the board. In the district's 2013 school board election, all three incumbents ran to retain their seats, and all three won additional terms.
| School board election trends | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Las Cruces Public Schools | |||||
| 2017 | 3.00 | 33.33% | 100.00% | 66.67% | |
| 2015 | 3.00 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 100.00% | |
| 2013 | 2.00 | 33.33% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| New Mexico | |||||
| 2015 | 2.05 | 30.00% | 64.29% | 50.00% | |
| United States | |||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
Issues in the election
Candidate forums
Las Cruces Board of Education candidates participated in forums hosted by the League of Women Voters of Las Cruces in January 2017. Videos of the forums can be found below. The forum for District 1 and 2 candidates is shown on the left, and the forum for District 3 candidates is shown on the right.
Issues in the district
Board appoints new superintendent
The Las Cruces Board of Education appointed Gregory Ewing to lead the district as its new superintendent. He started the position on December 5, 2016. His 18-month contract set a starting salary of $165,000 per year.[12]
"It will be my honor and privilege to be your next superintendent. I'm very excited to work with the teachers, staff, students, parents and community to make the school district even better," said Ewing after the board voted to offer him the job in November 2016. Prior to joining Las Cruces Public Schools, Ewing served as the chief accountability and research officer for the Cobb County School District in Georgia.[12]
Ewing's appointment followed the resignation of former Superintendent Stan Rounds in July 2016. Steven Sanchez, a former deputy superintendent of learning, teaching, and research for the district, filled in as interim superintendent from July 2016 to November 2016.[13]
Candidate survey
|
|
Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
About the district
- See also: Las Cruces Public Schools, New Mexico
The Las Cruces school district is located in Doña Ana County in southern New Mexico. The county seat is Las Cruces. Doña Ana County was home to an estimated 214,295 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[14] The district was the second-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 25,126 students.[15]
Demographics
Doña Ana County outperformed New Mexico as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 27.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 26.3 percent of state residents. The median household income for Doña Ana County was $38,853, compared to $44,963 for the entire state. The percentage of people below the poverty level for the county was 25.7 percent, while it was 20.4 percent statewide.[14]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[14] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Doña Ana County (%) | New Mexico (%) | |
| White | 91.9 | 82.5 | |
| Black or African American | 2.3 | 2.6 | |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 2.4 | 10.5 | |
| Asian | 1.4 | 1.7 | |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0.2 | 0.2 | |
| Two or more races | 1.9 | 2.5 | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 67.1 | 48.0 | |
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 Las Cruces Public Schools New Mexico election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Las Cruces Public Schools | New Mexico | School Boards |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Las Cruces Bulletin, "Nine file for three Las Cruces school board seats," December 21, 2016
- ↑ Doña Ana County Bureau of Elections, "School Board Elections: February 7, 2017," accessed February 6, 2017
- ↑ Twitter, "Doña Ana County post on February 7, 2017," accessed February 8, 2017
- ↑ Las Cruces Public Schools, "Early Voting Ends Friday, Feb. 3 for School Board Races," accessed February 6, 2017
- ↑ Las Cruces Public Schools, "Board Members," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 New Mexico School Boards Association, "School Board Member Handbook: CHAPTER II – LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Cuddy & McCarthy LLP, "New Mexico School District Election Calendar: For Regular School District Elections In February 2017," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State Voter Services, "Voter Registration Information," accessed February 18, 2017
- ↑ New Mexico Statutes, "Chapter 1. Elections: Article 22A. School District Campaign Reporting," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ National Education Association Las Cruces, "NEA-Las Cruces & CSEC-Las Cruces Candidates endorsed for the 2017 LCPS School Board Election," accessed January 30, 2017
- ↑ New Mexico Campaign Finance Information System, "Public Reports: Search Candidates," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 KVIA, "LCPS selects Dr. Gregory Ewing as its new superintendent," November 3, 2016
- ↑ Las Cruces Sun-News, "Sanchez named interim superintendent at LCPS," June 21, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 United States Census Bureau, "Doña Ana County, New Mexico," accessed January 5, 2017
- ↑ 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
| Las Cruces Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Dona Ana County, New Mexico | |
| Election date: | February 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District 1: • Ray Jaramillo District 2: • Terrie Dallman • Ronald Fitzherbert • Allison Smith • Charles Wendler District 3: • Incumbent, Maria Flores • MaryLou Barrio • Wanda Bowman • Gerald Miller |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
