Mary Beth Ainsworth

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Mary Beth Ainsworth
Image of Mary Beth Ainsworth

Education

Bachelor's

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Marine Corps

Personal
Profession
Business development
Contact

Mary Beth Ainsworth was a candidate for the District 1 seat on the Wake County Public School System school board in North Carolina. Ainsworth was defeated in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.

Biography

Ainsworth works as a business development professional for a software analytics company. She is also a former U.S. Marine, and spent time working for the Department of Defense. Ainsworth received her B.A. in criminal justice and political science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.[1]

Elections

2016

See also: Wake County Public School System elections (2016)

When state legislation created new school board district boundaries for the Wake County Public School System, a group of voters disputed the change in court.

See also: Issues in the election

District 1 incumbent Tom Benton filed for re-election and faced challengers Donald Agee, Mary Beth Ainsworth, and Sheila Ellis. Agee defeated the incumbent. In District 2, incumbent Monika Johnson-Hostler filed for an additional term on the board and successfully defended her seat against challenger Peter Hochstaetter. Mark Ivey initially filed in the race but withdrew his candidacy in September 2016. Because of the late withdrawal, his name still appeared on the ballot. Sole newcomer Roxie Cash filed for the District 3 seat and won. District 4 incumbent Keith Sutton filed for re-election and faced single challenger Heather Elliott. Sutton won another term on the board. In their bids for re-election, District 5, 6, and 7 incumbents Jim Martin, Christine Kushner, and Zora Felton were unopposed and won additional terms on the board. However, Felton passed away unexpectedly shortly after the general election, leaving the District 7 seat vacant. District 8 saw three newcomers file for the seat: Gary Lewis, Gil Pagan, and Lindsay Mahaffey, with Mahaffey winning the seat. In District 9, incumbent Bill Fletcher won the race against challenger Michael Tanbusch. There was no primary.[2][3]
After Judge Dever announced that the candidates who originally filed in this school board race were disqualified and would have to file again during a new filing window that ran from August 11, 2016, to August 17, 2016, three dropped out and two newcomers filed. Former candidates Beverley Clark, James McLuckie, and Donald Mial did not appear on the revised candidate list. District 7 incumbent Zora Felton and District 9 challenger Michael Tanbusch entered the race after the new deadline was set.[2]

Results

Wake County Public School System,
District 1 General Election, 2-year term, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Donald Agee 35.20% 17,445
Tom Benton Incumbent 33.96% 16,830
Mary Beth Ainsworth 16.64% 8,244
Sheila Ellis 13.78% 6,829
Write-in votes 0.41% 205
Total Votes (100) 49,553
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "11/08/2016 Official General Election Results," accessed December 5, 2016

Funding

Ainsworth did not report any contributions or expenditures to the Wake County Board of Elections as of November 4, 2016.[4]

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016
Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png

School board candidates in North Carolina were required to file campaign finance reports to their county's board of elections unless the candidate:

(1) Did not receive more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in contributions, and

(2) Did not receive more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in loans, and

(3) Did not spend more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).[5]

The third quarter campaign finance deadline was October 31, 2016, and the fourth quarter deadline was January 11, 2017.[6]

Campaign themes

Platform

Ainsworth listed the following as her platform on her campaign website:[7]

Demand transparent fiscal conservatism focused on academic achievement, student welfare and teacher supports while eliminating wasteful and abusive spending practices.

Bring Wake County special education services into federal compliance to ensure all children with special needs are given a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment as mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Provide failing schools with the programs, resources and personnel required for success.

Mitigate the impact of common core in order to allow teachers the instructional discretion needed to effectively manage their classrooms.

Address inefficiency in the transportation system to reduce student transit times and eliminate wasteful spending practices.

Reduce class sizes and guarantee that every classroom has the basic level of supplies needed to conduct daily educational tasks.

Utilize data driven analysis to effectively plan for county growth with a vision to account for continued expansion in line with responsible fiscal planning.[8]

—Mary Beth Ainsworth (2016)[7]

Recent news

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See also

External links

Footnotes