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Mary Beth Ainsworth
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
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 |
 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]
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
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Mary Beth Ainsworth Wake County Public School System. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Mary Beth Ainsworth 2016 campaign website
- Mary Beth Ainsworth 2016 Facebook campaign page
- Wake County Public School System
- Wake County Board of Elections
Footnotes
- ↑ Mary Beth Ainsworth for Wake County School Board, "Experience," accessed October 19, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wake County Board of Elections, "Wake Board of Elections Candidate Detail List," August 17, 2016
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "11/08/2016 Unofficial General Election Results," accessed November 8, 2016
- ↑ Wake County, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed November 4, 2016
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Chapter 163: Elections And Election Laws, Article 22A - Regulating Contributions and Expenditures in Political Campaigns," accessed February 11, 2016
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Reporting Schedules," accessed October 11, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Mary Beth Ainsworth for Wake County School Board, "Platform," accessed October 19, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Wake County Public School System Elections | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District 1: Incumbent, Tom Benton • Donald Agee • Mary Beth Ainsworth • Sheila Ellis District 2: Incumbent, Monika Johnson-Hostler • Peter Hochstaetter • Mark Ivey District 4: Incumbent, Keith Sutton • Heather Elliott District 5: Incumbent, Jim Martin District 6: Incumbent, Christine Kushner District 7: Incumbent, Zora Felton District 8: Gary Lewis • Gil Pagan • Lindsay Mahaffey |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
