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Mark Muhammad
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
Mark Muhammad is an at-large representative on the Syracuse City Board of Education Commissioners in New York. He was first appointed to the board in January 2015.[1]
Muhammad sought another term in the Democratic primary election on September 10, 2015.[2] He won that election, which allowed him to advance to the general election.[3] He successfully won another term on the board in the general election.[4]
Biography
Muhammad works as an assistant professor of professional communication for the Onondaga Community College. He also works as an adjunct professor at Syracuse University and is a minister in the Nation of Islam. Muhammad earned an associate degree in business technology from Onondaga Community College, a bachelor's degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and a master's degree in speech communication from Syracuse University.[5] His two children graduated from the Syracuse City School District.[6]
Elections
2015
Four of the seven seats on the Syracuse City School District Board of Education Commissioners were up for general election on November 3, 2015.A primary election for Democratic Party candidates was held on September 10, 2015.[7][8][9] The seats held by incumbents Mark Muhammad, Michelle Mignano, Max Ruckdeschel and Stephen Swift were on the general election ballot.[10]
While Democratic incumbents Muhammad, Migano and Ruckdeschel all sought re-election, they faced primary challengers Katie Sojewicz, Daniel Romeo and Rita Paniagua. Muhammad and the challengers won the primary and advanced to the general election, where they won all four seats.[4]
Incumbent Ruckdeschel and challengers Sojewicz and Romeo cross-filed as a Working Families Party candidates. This cross-filing allowed Ruckdeschel to appear on the general election after his Democratic primary defeat.[3][11] One more Working Families Party candidate—Latoya Allen—and two Green Party candidates—Raymond Blackwell and Caleb Duncan—also ran in the general election.[12][13]
Results
General election
| ELECTORAL FUSION: Syracuse City School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Cross-filed (2) |  Katie Sojewicz |
22.5% | 12,015 | |
| Cross-filed (2) | Daniel Romeo |
20.2% | 10,825 | |
| Democratic | Mark Muhammad Incumbent |
16.8% | 8,985 | |
| Democratic | Rita Paniagua |
16.1% | 8,591 | |
| Green | Raymond Blackwell | 6.9% | 3,698 | |
| Green | Caleb Duncan | 5.9% | 3,142 | |
| Working Families Party | Max Ruckdeschel Incumbent | 5.9% | 3,160 | |
| Working Families Party | Latoya Allen | 5.5% | 2,945 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.3% | 136 | |
| Total Votes | 53,497 | |||
| Source: Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Onondaga County Board of Elections Commissioner Secretary Julie Cook," January 14, 2016 | ||||
| FULL BY-PARTY RESULTS: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Katie Sojewicz | 18.1% | 9,667 | |
| Democratic | Mark Muhammad Incumbent | 16.8% | 8,985 | |
| Democratic | Daniel Romeo | 16.8% | 8,987 | |
| Democratic | Rita Paniagua | 16.1% | 8,591 | |
| Green | Raymond Blackwell | 6.9% | 3,698 | |
| Green | Caleb Duncan | 5.9% | 3,142 | |
| Working Families Party | Max Ruckdeschel Incumbent | 5.9% | 3,160 | |
| Working Families Party | Latoya Allen | 5.5% | 2,945 | |
| Working Families Party | Katie Sojewicz | 4.4% | 2,348 | |
| Working Families Party | Daniel Romeo | 3.4% | 1,838 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.3% | 136 | |
Primary election
This election was held September 10, 2015.
| Syracuse City School District, At-Large, Democratic Primary, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Katie Sojewicz |
20.2% | 3,008 |
| Mark Muhammad Incumbent |
20.1% | 2,993 |
| Daniel Romeo |
17.2% | 2,557 |
| Rita Paniagua |
15.0% | 2,235 |
| Michelle Mignano Incumbent | 14.3% | 2,120 |
| Max Ruckdeschel Incumbent | 12.7% | 1,885 |
| Write-in votes | 0.46% | 68 |
| Total Votes | 14,866 | |
| Source: Onondaga County Clerk, "Onondaga County Election Results: Primary Election September 10, 2015," accessed September 10, 2015 | ||
Funding
Muhammad reported no contributions or expenditures to the Syracuse City School District Clerk as of September 8, 2015.[14]
School board candidates were required to file campaign finance disclosure reports with the clerk of the Syracuse City School District. No disclosure reports were required from candidates who raised or spent less than $500, but those candidates did have to file a sworn statement to that effect with the school district clerk.[15] Three reports were required per election from those over the $500 threshold. Campaign finance reports for the primary election were due August 12, September 5 and September 30, 2015. The general election campaign finance reports were due October 4, October 29 and November 23, 2015.[16]
Endorsements
Muhammad was endorsed by the Onondaga County Democratic Committee.[17]
Campaign themes
2015
On September 2, 2015, Syracuse.com published an article detailing candidates' responses when asked "to identify the most pressing issue facing the district and offer their solution."[18] Muhammad's response to that question follows below.
| “ | One of the biggest challenges that we face is getting our city and district to move forward in a unified, collective manner as we focus on the critical education of our youth. I am a bridge builder and community connector and that has been my attitude in the time I've been a member of the board. I want a transformation in our efforts to improve education -- and I've worked on that consistently. A better educational system is not just the responsibility of the school board members or the professional educators; improvement in education is the responsibility of the entire community in the broadest sense -- at the local, state and federal level. If we are united, we can accomplish more.
My solution is to have more critical conversations around our desire to create a just, equitable system, and a belief that all children can, and deserve to, be successful in education.[19] |
” |
| —Mark Muhammad (2015)[18] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Mark Muhammad' 'Syracuse City School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Syracuse City School District, New York
- Syracuse City School District elections (2015)
- 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
Footnotes
- ↑ Syracuse.com, "Mayor appoints Mark Muhammad as new Syracuse school board member," January 6, 2015
- ↑ Onondaga County Board of Elections, "Primary Candidate List: September 10, 2015," July 27, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Onondaga County Clerk, "Onondaga County Election Results: Primary Election September 10, 2015," accessed September 10, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Onondaga County, "Onondaga County Election Results," accessed November 3, 2015
- ↑ Syracuse.com, "Mayor appoints Mark Muhammad as new Syracuse school board member," January 6, 2015
- ↑ Syracuse.com, "Meet the 2015 Syracuse city school commissioner candidates," September 2, 2015
- ↑ Onondaga County Board of Elections, "Welcome to the Onondaga County Board of Elections," accessed April 21, 2015
- ↑ Syracuse City School District, "2100: School Board Governance and Operations: School Board Legal Status," accessed April 21, 2015
- ↑ Abbey Smith, "Phone communication with Onondaga County Board of Elections," July 16, 2015
- ↑ Onondaga County Board of Elections, "Offices to be filled November 3, 2015," June 30, 2015
- ↑ Working Families Party, "2015 Candidates: Central NY," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ Syracuse.com, "3 Democrats will battle in September primary to replace Assemblyman Roberts," July 9, 2015
- ↑ Green Party of the United States, "Press Releases: Greens Designate City Candidates," May 18, 2015
- ↑ Abbey Smith, Email communication with Syracuse City School District Clerk Eileen Steinhardt," September 8, 2015
- ↑ New York Education Law, "NY Code - Section 1528: Expenditure and contribution statement," accessed July 24, 2015
- ↑ New York State Election Law, "NY Code - Section 1529: Times for filing statements," accessed August 12, 2015
- ↑ Onondaga Democratic Committee, "2015 Democratic Candidates," accessed July 24, 2015
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Syracuse.com, "2015 school board race: Candidates discuss challenges in Syracuse city schools," September 2, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2015 Syracuse City School District Elections | |
| Onondaga County, New York | |
| Election date: | Primary election: September 10, 2015 General election: November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Michelle Mignano (D) • Incumbent, Mark Muhammad (D) • Incumbent, Max Ruckdeschel (D, WF) • Latoya Allen (WF) • Raymond Blackwell (G) • Caleb Duncan (G) • Rita Paniagua (D) • Daniel Romeo (D, WF) • Katie Sojewicz (D, WF) |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
