Perth Amboy Public Schools elections (2015)

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2015 Perth Amboy Public Schools 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
New Jersey Perth Amboy Public Schools Middlesex County, New Jersey ballot measures Local ballot measures, New Jersey

Three seats on the Perth Amboy Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015. The seats of incumbents William Ortiz, Kenneth Puccio and Obdulia Gonzalez were on the ballot. Ortiz did not file to run for re-election, guaranteeing at least one newcomer would join the board. Gonzales and Puccio won re-election, while Anton Massopust joined the board. The three of them ran as the candidate slate "Together for Quality Schools." They defeated challengers Junior Iglesia and Annette De Mendonca.

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: Perth Amboy Public Schools, New Jersey

Perth Amboy Public Schools is located in Middlesex County, N.J.

Perth Amboy Public Schools is located in Middlesex County in central New Jersey. The county seat is New Brunswick. Middlesex County was home to approximately 836,297 residents in 2014, according to estimates by the United States Census Bureau. During the 2012-2013 school year, Perth Amboy Public Schools was the 16th-largest school district by enrollment in the state and served 10,278 students.

Demographics

Middlesex County outperformed the rest of New Jersey in terms of education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 40.1 percent of Middlesex County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 35.8 percent for New Jersey as a whole. The median household income for Middlesex County was $79,596, compared to the state average of $71,629. The poverty rate in Middlesex County was 8.5 percent while it was 10.4 percent statewide.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Middlesex County (%)	New Jersey (%)
White	62.8	73.4
Black or African American	11.0	14.7
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.6	0.6
Asian	23.5	9.2
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1
Two or More Races	2.0	2.0
Hispanic or Latino	19.5	18.9

Presidential Voting Pattern, Middlesex County
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	190,555	107,310
2008	193,812	123,695
2004	166,628	126,492
2000	154,998	93,545

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 Perth Amboy Board of Education consists of nine members elected at large to three-year terms. Three members are up for election every year in November. The district does not hold primary elections. In 2015, the general election was held on November 3, 2015.

School board candidates had to be U.S. citizens and residents of the school district for at least one year prior to the election. They also had to be able to read and write and be registered voters. They could not hold another elected municipal office in Perth Amboy, such as mayor or town council member. To get on the ballot, candidates had to file their nominating petitions with the Middlesex County Clerk's Office by July 27, 2015.

In order to vote in this election, residents of the school district had to be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old. They also had to have lived in the district for at least 30 days prior to the election. They had to file their Voter Registration Application and Party Affiliation Form with the Middlesex County Clerk's Office by October 13, 2015. Photo identification was not required to vote in New Jersey.

Elections

2015

Candidates

At-large

Obdulia Gonzalez		Kenneth Puccio		Annette De Mendonca
	Incumbent Graduate, City College of New York and Kean University Retired school counselor Member of "Together for Quality Schools" slate		Incumbent Juvenile detective Member of "Together for Quality Schools" slate

Junior Iglesia		Anton Massopust
	Teacher		Graduate, Villanova University Member of "Together for Quality Schools" slate

Election results

Perth Amboy Board of Education, At-large, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Anton Massopust	24.9%	1,187
Obdulia Gonzalez Incumbent	24.4%	1,162
Kenneth Puccio Incumbent	22.8%	1,088
Junior Iglesia	21.5%	1,026
Annette De Mendonca	6.3%	302
Total Votes		4,765
Source: Middlesex County, "Historical Election Results: Perth Amboy," accessed December 18, 2015

Endorsements

No candidate received an official endorsement for this election.

Campaign finance

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2015

Candidates received a total of $1,153.00 and spent a total of $0.00 in the election, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
Obdulia Gonzalez, Kenneth Puccio and Anton Massopust (slate)	$1,153.00	$0.00	$1,153.00
Annette De Mendonca	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Junior Iglesia	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

School board candidates were required to file a Certificate of Organization and Designation of Campaign Treasurer and Depository form if they received a contribution of any amount, including their own funds. They filed this form with the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). Three reports were required from candidates who received contributions: the 29-day pre-election report, the 11-day pre-election report and the 20-day post-election report. Contributions received between October 21, 2015, and November 3, 2015, required 48-hour notice reports.

Past elections

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

2014 See also: Perth Amboy Public Schools elections (2014) Perth Amboy Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Milady Tejada Incumbent 19.7% 2,378      Nonpartisan Jose Rodriguez 19.6% 2,369      Nonpartisan Manuel Nunez 16.3% 1,971      Nonpartisan Dianne Roman Incumbent 13.7% 1,654      Nonpartisan Anton J. Massopust 12.6% 1,525      Nonpartisan Junior Iglesia 9.1% 1,100      Nonpartisan Thomas Thor 8.8% 1,067 Total Votes 12,064 Source: Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Claudia Jackson, Middlesex County Clerk's Office," February 27, 2015 2013 See also: Perth Amboy Public Schools elections (2013) Perth Amboy Board of Education, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Israel Varela Incumbent 17.1% 1,741      Nonpartisan Anthony Bermudez 16.4% 1,666      Nonpartisan Samuel Lebreault 15.3% 1,559      Nonpartisan Mark Carvajal Incumbent 11.4% 1,161      Nonpartisan Anton J. Massopust Incumbent 10.7% 1,090      Nonpartisan Reyes Ortega 10.4% 1,061      Nonpartisan Benjamin L. Salerno 10.1% 1,026      Nonpartisan Junior Iglesia 4.6% 472      Nonpartisan Damaris Isales 3.9% 392 Total Votes 10,168 Source: Middlesex County, "Election Results," November 12, 2013 2012 Perth Amboy Board of Education, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan William Ortiz 15.8% 2,237      Nonpartisan Kenneth J. Puccio 12.6% 1,785      Nonpartisan Obdulia Gonzalez 12.1% 1,722      Nonpartisan Nina Perkins Nieves 9.5% 1,347      Nonpartisan Jeanette Gonzalez 8.9% 1,263      Nonpartisan Junior Iglesia 8.8% 1,255      Nonpartisan Reyes Ortega 8.5% 1,208      Nonpartisan Samuel Lebreault 8.5% 1,205      Nonpartisan Benjamin L. Salerno 7.7% 1,092      Nonpartisan Maria Rojas 7.6% 1,077 Total Votes 14,191 Source: City of Perth Amboy, "General Election - November 6, 2012," accessed October 14, 2014 2011 Perth Amboy Board of Education, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Dianne Roman 21.7% 693      Nonpartisan Eric Rodgers Incumbent 21% 672      Nonpartisan Milady Tejada Incumbent 19.5% 624      Nonpartisan Nina Perkins-Nieves 19% 608      Nonpartisan Jacqueline Rodriguez-Sanchez 18.8% 603 Total Votes 3,200 Source: City of Perth Amboy, "School Board Election Results: April 27, 2011," accessed October 10, 2014

What was at stake?

2015

Election trends

See also: 2013 school board elections and 2014 school board elections

With three seats up for election in 2015, one-third of the Perth Amboy Board of Education had the potential to change hands. One incumbent did not file to run for re-election, guaranteeing at least one newcomer would join the board. Incumbents Kenneth Puccio and Obdulia Gonzalez won re-election, and challenger Anton Massopust won the open seat.

Voters elected to change the board to a certain extent in the years leading up to the 2015 election. They voted two new members to the board in both 2013 and 2014. In both of those cases at least one incumbent lost a re-election bid. In 2013, all three incumbents up for re-election ran for another term. Israel Varela retained his seat, but the other two incumbents lost theirs after receiving the fourth- and fifth-most votes in the election. In 2014, only two incumbents ran for re-election, leaving one open seat. Incumbent Milady Tejada kept her seat, but Dianne Roman received the fourth-most votes in the election and lost hers.

The school board election in 2013 attracted more competitors than the 2014 and 2015 races. An average of three candidates per seat ran in 2013, while an average of 2.3 candidates ran per seat in 2014. The 2015 election had the least number of candidates, with 1.67 running per seat. In 2014, an average of two candidates ran per seat statewide in New Jersey's largest school districts.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Perth Amboy Public Schools election in 2015:

Deadline	Event
July 27, 2015	Candidate filing deadline
July 31, 2015	Objection to petitions filing deadline
September 4, 2015	Candidate withdrawal deadline
October 5, 2015	29-day pre-election campaign finance report due
October 13, 2015	Voter registration deadline
October 23, 2015	11-day pre-election campaign finance report due
November 3, 2015	Election Day
November 23, 2015	20-day post-election campaign finance report due

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: New Jersey elections, 2015

The Perth Amboy Public Schools election shared the ballot with elections for two Middlesex County Freeholder seats.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Perth Amboy Public Schools' New Jersey. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Perth Amboy Public Schools elections (2015) - Google News

See also

Perth Amboy Public Schools	New Jersey	School Boards
Perth Amboy Public Schools elections (2014) Perth Amboy Public Schools elections (2013) List of school districts in New Jersey	New Jersey school board elections, 2015 Public education in New Jersey Local ballot measures, New Jersey	School board elections, 2015 School board elections, 2014 School board election data analysis, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• Perth Amboy Public Schools
• Middlesex County Clerk’s Office