Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District elections (2015)

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
2018
2013
School Board badge.png
2015 Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Elections

General Election date:
November 3, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district
Method of election
Elections
What was at stake?
Key deadlines
Additional elections
External links
See also
California
Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District
Los Angeles County, California ballot measures
Local ballot measures, California
Flag of California.png

Three seats on the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015.[1][2] The seats held by incumbents Karen Morrison, Jesus Urquidi and Chris Pflanzer were on the ballot.[3]

All three incumbents won re-election against challenger Victor Juan.[4][5]

See how this race compared to past school board elections in both the district and the state in the "Election trends" section.

About the district

See also: Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, California
Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District is located in Los Angeles County, Calif.

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District is located in Los Angeles County in southwestern California. The county seat is Los Angeles.[6] Los Angeles County was home to 10,116,705 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[7] During the 2012-2013 school year, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District was the 76th-largest school district by enrollment in California and served 19,770 students.[8]

Demographics

Los Angeles County underperformed compared to the rest of California in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 30.7 percent for California as a whole. The median household income for Los Angeles County was $55,909, compared to $61,094 for the entire state. The percentage of people below poverty level was 17.8 percent, compared to 15.9 percent statewide.[7]

Racial Demographics, 2014[7]
Race Los Angeles County (%) California (%)
White 71.3 73.2
Black or African American 9.2 6.5
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.5 1.7
Asian 14.8 14.4
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0.4 0.5
Two or more races 2.9 3.7
Hispanic or Latino 48.4 38.6

Presidential Voting Pattern,
Los Angeles County[9]
Year Democratic Vote Republican Vote
2012 2,216,903 885,333
2008 2,295,853 956,425
2004 1,907,736 1,076,225
2000 1,710,505 871,930

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.

Voter and candidate information

The Norwalk-La Mirada Board of Education consists of seven members elected at-large to four-year terms. Board members are elected on a staggered basis every November of odd-numbered years. There are no primary elections. Four seats were up for election on November 5, 2013, and three seats were on the ballot on November 3, 2015.[1][10]

School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, residents of the school district and qualified voters. They could not be employees of the school district while in office.[11] To get on the ballot, candidates had to file their declaration of candidacy with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk by August 7, 2015.[12]

To vote in this election, residents of the district had to register by October 19, 2015. Voters could cast vote-by-mail ballots from October 24, 2015, through Election Day.[12] Photo identification was not required to vote in California.

Elections

2015

Candidates

At-large
Karen Morrison Green check mark transparent.png Chris Pflanzer Green check mark transparent.png

Karen Morrison.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • Member from 2004-2015
  • Accounts payable clerk, Unified Grocers

Chris Pflanzer.png

  • Incumbent
  • Member from 2011-2015
  • Graduate, Brooks Institute
Jesus Urquidi Green check mark transparent.png Victor Juan

Jesse Urquidi.png

  • Incumbent
  • Member from 2011-2015

Victor Juan.jpg

  • Marketing manager, DSG International

Election results

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, At-large, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Karen Morrison Incumbent 30.9% 2,431
Green check mark transparent.png Chris Pflanzer Incumbent 26.5% 2,083
Green check mark transparent.png Jesus Urquidi Incumbent 26.3% 2,066
Victor Juan 16.3% 1,283
Total Votes 7,863
Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015

Endorsements

Incumbent Chris Pflanzer was endorsed by the community organization Evolve.[13]

Campaign finance

Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png
See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2015

At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.

The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[14][15][16]

Campaign finance reporting requirements in California vary depending on how much money candidates spend or raise. For candidates planning to raise or spend less than $1,000, an Officeholder and Candidate Campaign Statement Short Form (Form 470) must be filed with their county or city elections office. If candidates plan to spend up to $1,000, including their own funds, they must also file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501). "If a candidate does not raise any money and personal funds are used only to pay filing or ballot statement fees, the candidate is not required to file the Form 501," according to the Fair Political Practices Commission. If candidates raise money outside of their own funds, a separate campaign bank account must be established.[17]

Candidates raising or spending more than $1,000, including their personal funds, must file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501), file a Statement of Organization (Form 410) and establish a separate bank account for campaign funds. They must then file Recipient Committee Campaign Statements (Form 460) to disclose their contributions and expenditures throughout their campaigns. If they receive more than $1,000 from a single source within 90 days of the election, they must file a 24-hour Contribution Report (Form 497).[17]

School Board badge.png

If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Past elections

What was at stake?

2015

Election trends

School Board Election Trends Banner.jpg
See also: 2013 school board elections

With three seats on the ballot on November 3, 2015, nearly half of the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified Board of Education had the potential to change hands. All three incumbents ran to retain their seats, and all three won re-election. With one challenger in the race, there was an average of 1.33 candidates running per seat.

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified's 2013 school board election had a higher average number of candidates per seat at 1.75. Four seats were on the ballot that year, and all four incumbents ran for re-election. All but one won another term, which brought one newcomer to the board.

Both the 2013 and 2015 school board elections in the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District had fewer candidates run per seat than the 2014 state average of 1.91 candidates per seat up for election in California's largest school districts. That year, just over 25 percent of board seats in those districts were unopposed, and 37.65 percent of seats went to newcomers.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District election in 2015:[12][18]

Deadline Event
June 8, 2015 - August 7, 2015 Candidate filing period
July 31, 2015 Semi-annual campaign finance report due
August 5, 2015 - November 2, 2015 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period
September 7, 2015 - October 20, 2015 Write-in candidate filing period
September 24, 2015 Pre-election campaign finance report due
October 19, 2015 Voter registration deadline
October 22, 2015 Pre-election campaign finance report due
October 24, 2015 First day voters can cast vote-by-mail ballots
November 3, 2015 Election Day
February 1, 2016 Semi-annual campaign finance report due

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: California elections, 2015

No elections shared the ballot with the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District. A number of other school districts in Los Angeles County, however, also held school board elections on November 3, 2015.[19]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District California. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District California School Boards
School Board badge.png
Seal of California.png
School Board badge.png

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “2015 Scheduled Elections,” accessed January 27, 2015
  2. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “Running for Office,” accessed January 27, 2015
  3. Smart Voter.org, "Governing Board Member; Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Voter Information," accessed October 8, 2013
  4. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate List: Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed August 11, 2015
  5. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Semi-Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 4, 2015
  6. Geology.com, "California County Map with County Seat Cities," accessed July 1, 2014
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 United States Census Bureau, "Los Angeles County, California," accessed September 23, 2015
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 29, 2015
  9. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Past Election Results," accessed July 1, 2014
  10. Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, "Board of Education," accessed August 7, 2015
  11. Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, "Board Policies," accessed August 7, 2015
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Calendar of Events," accessed July 29, 2015
  13. Evolve, "2015 Endorsements: November 03, 2015 Election," accessed October 27, 2015
  14. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
  15. Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
  16. Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
  17. 17.0 17.1 Fair Political Practices Commission, "Local Candidates, Superior Court Judges, Their Controlled Committees, and Primarily Formed Committees for Local Candidates: Campaign Disclosure Manual 2," accessed August 5, 2015
  18. Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 3, 2015," accessed August 5, 2015
  19. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed July 29, 2015