Omaha Public Schools elections (2016)

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2018 → ← 2014
Omaha Public Schools Elections
Primary election date:
May 10, 2016
General election date:
November 8, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
51,069 students

Five of the nine seats on the Omaha Public Schools school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. The board is nonpartisan, but the candidates identified with a political party when they filed for candidacy. A primary election was held for Subdistricts 1 and 7 on May 10, 2016. Subdistrict 1 incumbent Yolanda Williams (D) defeated challenger Ricky Smith (D) in the general election and Krystal Gabel and Marilou Roth (R) in the primary election to win re-election to her seat. Ben Perlman won the open Subdistrict 3 seat by defeating Alex Gates. Incumbent Lou Ann Goding (R) ran unopposed and won re-election in Subdistrict 5. Amanda Ryan (D) won the open Subdistrict 7 seat by defeating Carol Krejci (D) in the general election and Mario Polite in the primary election. Vinny Palermo (D) ran unopposed and won re-election to the Subdistrict 9 seat.

Elections

Voter and candidate information

The Omaha Board of Education consists of nine members elected by district to four-year terms. A primary election was held on May 10, 2016 for Subdistricts 1 and 7 due to the fact that the number of candidates who filed to run in the election was more than double the number of seats up for election. The top vote-getter in each district with a primary advanced to the general election which was held on November 8, 2016. The board members elect a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer during an organizational meeting in January.

To be elected to the board, candidates must reside in the boundaries of the school district and be a registered voter.

Candidates had until March 1, 2016, to file their nomination papers. Incumbents had to file by February 16, 2016.

Subdistrict 1

Results

Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 1 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Yolanda Williams Incumbent	61.04%	6,736
Ricky Smith	38.07%	4,201
Write-in votes	0.9%	99
Total Votes		11,036
Source: Douglas County, Nebraska, "Summary Report," accessed November 30, 2016

Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 1 Primary Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Yolanda Williams Incumbent	41.96%	1,239
Ricky Smith	26.99%	797
Marilou Roth	15.68%	463
Krystal Gabel	14.22%	420
Write-in votes	1.15%	34
Total Votes		2,953
Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "Official Results," accessed June 6, 2016

Candidates

Krystal Gabel		Marilou Roth
	Defeated in the primary election Information developer, ACI Worldwide, Inc. Bachelor's degree, Briar Cliff University Master's degree, University of Nebraska at Omaha		Defeated in the primary election Republican Research lab technician, Creighton University Bachelor's degree, University of Nebrasksa-Lincoln
Ricky Smith		Yolanda Williams
	Democrat Admissions counselor, University of Nebraska at Omaha Bachelor's degree, Midland Lutheran College Master's degree, Bellevue University		Incumbent Democrat Lead program and outreach coordinator, Partnership 4 Kids Associates degree, Metropolitan Community College Bachelor's degree, Bellevue University

Subdistrict 3

Results

Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 3 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ben Perlman	51.66%	7,371
Alex Gates	47.37%	6,758
Write-in votes	0.97%	138
Total Votes		14,267
Source: Douglas County, Nebraska, "Summary Report," accessed November 30, 2016

Candidates

Alex Gates		Ben Perlman
	Democrat Technology consultant Bachelor's degree, University of Northern Iowa		Bachelor's degree, Creighton University Juris doctor, Creighton University

Subdistrict 5

Results

Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 5 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Lou Ann Goding Incumbent (unopposed)	97.62%	15,005
Write-in votes	2.38%	366
Total Votes		15,371
Source: Douglas County, Nebraska, "Summary Report," accessed November 30, 2016

Candidates

Lou Ann Goding		Nick Howe
	Incumbent Republican		Democrat Withdrew

Subdistrict 7

Results

Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 7 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Amanda Ryan	51.32%	6,315
Carol Krejci	47.30%	5,821
Write-in votes	1.38%	170
Total Votes		12,306
Source: Douglas County, Nebraska, "Summary Report," accessed November 30, 2016

Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 7 Primary Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Carol Krejci	44.99%	1,753
Amanda Ryan	34.57%	1,347
Mario Polite	19.28%	751
Write-in votes	1.16%	45
Total Votes		3,896
Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "Official Results," accessed June 6, 2016

Candidates

Carol Krejci		Mario Polite		Amanda Ryan
	Democrat		Defeated in the primary election Bachelor's degree, Wichita State University Master's degree, Baker University		Democrat Administrative assistant, Institute for Holocaust education Bachelor's degree, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Subdistrict 9

Results

Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 9 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Vinny Palermo  (unopposed)	97.60%	7,069
Write-in votes	2.4%	174
Total Votes		7,243
Source: Douglas County, Nebraska, "Summary Report," accessed November 30, 2016

Candidates

Vinny Palermo
	Democrat

Additional elections

See also: Nebraska elections, 2016

The Omaha school board election shared the ballot with national elections for president and vice-president. State offices on the ballot were members of the Nebraska legislature, members of the state board of education, members of the metro community college board, members of the Douglas-Sarpy Learning Community Coordinating Council, members of the Papio Missouri River Natural Resource District Board of Directors, member of the Omaha Public Power District and members of the educational services unit. Voters also decided on the county offices of clerk, county court judge, county district court judge, public defender and county commissioner.

Key deadlines

The following dates are key deadlines for the Omaha school board elections in 2016:

Deadline	Event
March 1, 2016	Candidate filing deadline
April 22, 2016	Last day to register to vote in the primary election by mail, at state agencies, by the deputy registrar, online or at the department of motor vehicles
May 2, 2016	Last day to register to vote in the primary election at the election commission office
May 10, 2016	Primary Election Day
October 11, 2016	First campaign finance deadline
October 21, 2016	Last day to register to vote in the general election by mail, at state agencies, by the deputy registrar, online or at the department of motor vehicles
October 28, 2016	Last day to register to vote in the general election at the election commission office
October 31, 2016	Second campaign finance deadline
November 8, 2016	Election Day
January 17, 2017	Final campaign finance deadline

Endorsements

Subdistrict 1

Smith and Williams received an official endorsement from the Omaha World-Herald.

Subdistrict 7

Krejci and Polite received an official endorsement from the Omaha World-Herald.

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 $37,228.00 and spent a total of $30,121.44 as of November 3, 2016, according to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
Subdistrict 1
Yolanda Williams	$4,590.00	$2,705.47	$1,884.53
Ricky Smith	$5,450.00	$4,331.50	$1,118.50
Subdistrict 3
Alex Gates	$17,103.00	$16,445.70	$657.30
Ben Perlman	$7,985.00	$6,597.63	$1,387.37
Subdistrict 5
Lou Ann Goding	$2,100.00	$44.14	$2,055.86
Subdistrict 7
Carol Krejci	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Amanda Ryan	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Subdistrict 9
Vinny Palermo	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2014 Subdistrict 2 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Marque A. Snow Incumbent 96.1% 3,884      Nonpartisan Write-In votes 3.9% 159 Total Votes 4,043 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "2014 General Election Official Results," accessed December 22, 2014 Subdistrict 4 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Justin T. Wayne Incumbent 97% 7,786      Nonpartisan Write-In votes 3% 240 Total Votes 8,026 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "2014 General Election Official Results," accessed December 22, 2014 Subdistrict 6 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Matt Scanlan Incumbent 98.3% 8,159      Nonpartisan Write-In votes 1.7% 139 Total Votes 8,298 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "2014 General Election Official Results," accessed December 22, 2014 Subdistrict 8 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 8 General Election, 4-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Lacey Merica Incumbent 56.5% 1,393      Nonpartisan Marilyn Rickley 42.6% 1,050 Total Votes 2,464 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "2014 General Election Official Results," accessed December 22, 2014 2013 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Yolanda R. Williams 56.4% 3,114      Nonpartisan James M. English 42.4% 2,342      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.2% 64 Total Votes 5,520 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "City of Omaha General Election Results (05/14/2013)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 2 General Election, 1-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Marque A. Snow 58.4% 2,368      Nonpartisan Niokia T. Stewart 40.4% 1,639      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.1% 45 Total Votes 4,052 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "City of Omaha General Election Results (05/14/2013)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Marian Fey 51.6% 4,462      Nonpartisan Woody Bradford 47.9% 4,141      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.5% 47 Total Votes 8,650 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "City of Omaha General Election Results (05/14/2013)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 4 General Election, 1-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Justin T. Wayne 57.7% 3,573      Nonpartisan Jill Brown 41.9% 2,596      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.4% 27 Total Votes 6,196 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "City of Omaha General Election Results (05/14/2013)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Lou Ann Goding 51% 2,457      Nonpartisan Jennifer Thompkins Kirshenbaum 48.4% 2,330      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.6% 27 Total Votes 4,814 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "City of Omaha General Election Results (05/14/2013)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 6 General Election, 1-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Matt Scanlan 53.2% 4,718      Nonpartisan Nancy Kratky 46.2% 4,098      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.6% 52 Total Votes 8,868 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "City of Omaha General Election Results (05/14/2013)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Katie Underwood 75.8% 5,090      Nonpartisan Andy Allen 23.4% 1,575      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.8% 54 Total Votes 6,719 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "City of Omaha General Election Results (05/14/2013)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 8 General Election, 1-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Lacey Merica 57% 1,270      Nonpartisan William Forsee 42.2% 942      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.8% 18 Total Votes 2,230 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "City of Omaha General Election Results (05/14/2013)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 9 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Sarah Brumfield 54.7% 1,723      Nonpartisan Rebecca Barrientos-Patlan 44.5% 1,401      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.8% 24 Total Votes 3,148 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "City of Omaha General Election Results (05/14/2013)," accessed September 5, 2014 2012 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Freddie J. Gray 60.5% 4,823      Nonpartisan James M. English 38.6% 3,074      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.9% 75 Total Votes 7,972 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "General Election Results (11/06/2012)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Sarah Brumfield 62.4% 2,783      Nonpartisan Oscar Duran 36.4% 1,622      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.3% 57 Total Votes 4,462 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "General Election Results (11/06/2012)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Mary L. Morrissey 97.3% 2,434      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 2.7% 67 Total Votes 2,501 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "General Election Results (11/06/2012)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 8 General Election, 4-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Danyelle Baratta 52.3% 4,138      Nonpartisan Andy Allen 46.5% 3,680      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.2% 96 Total Votes 7,914 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "General Election Results (11/06/2012)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 10 General Election, 4-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Nicole L. Nash 97.8% 7,622      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 2.2% 169 Total Votes 7,791 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "General Election Results (11/06/2012)," accessed September 5, 2014 Omaha Public Schools, Subdistrict 12 General Election, 4-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Jennifer Thompkins Kirshenbaum 50.2% 5,459      Nonpartisan Patrick J. Bourne 49% 5,328      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.8% 89 Total Votes 10,876 Source: Douglas County Election Commission, "General Election Results (11/06/2012)," accessed September 5, 2014

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About the district

See also: Omaha Public Schools, Nebraska

Omaha Public Schools is located in Douglas County, Nebraska.

Omaha Public Schools is located in eastern Nebraska in Douglas County. The county seat is Omaha. Douglas County was home to 543,244 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 51,069 students.

Demographics

Douglas County overperformed compared to Nebraska as a whole in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 36.4 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 28.5 percent of state residents. The median household income for Douglas County was $53,325, compared to $51,672 for the state. The percentage of people below poverty level for the county was 14.3 percent, while it was 12.8 percent for the state of Nebraska.

Racial Demographics, 2014
Race	Douglas County (%)	Nebraska (%)
White	81.3	89.4
Black or African American	11.6	4.9
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.2	1.4
Asian	3.3	2.2
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1
Two or more races	2.5	2.0
Hispanic or Latino	12.0	10.2

Party registration, Douglas County, 2016
Party	Number of registered voters
Republican	124,578
Democratic	123,196
Libertarian	2,389
Nonpartisan	76,598
Total	326,761

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 'Omaha Public Schools' 'Nebraska'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Omaha Public Schools elections (2016) - Google News

See also

Omaha Public Schools	Nebraska	School Boards
Omaha Public Schools elections (2014) List of school districts in Nebraska	Nebraska school board elections, 2016 Public education in Nebraska Local ballot measures, Nebraska	School board elections, 2016 School board elections, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2016 School board election data analysis, 2015

External links

• Omaha Public Schools
• Douglas County Election Commission