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Raj Gandhi
Raj Gandhi was a candidate for an at-large seat on the South Washington County school board. He did not win a seat in the general election on November 5, 2013.
Biography
Raj Gandhi earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University. At the time of his candidacy, Gandhi was employed as a contracted engineer with Medtronic. He serves on the board of directors for the Woodbury Athletic Association and as the president of the Woodbury Soccer Club.[1] A 2009 Facebook photo that surfaced of Gandhi dressed in a similar manner to the film character "Borat" resulted in outrage from some district parents, who considered the outfit inappropriate and too revealing.[2]
Elections
2013
Raj Gandhi unsuccessfully ran against 13 other candidates in his attempt to win one of four at-large seats with four-year terms in the general election on November 5, 2013.
Results
| South Washington County Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Katie Schwartz |
11.5% | 3,239 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tracy Brunnette Incumbent |
10.6% | 2,990 | |
| Nonpartisan | Katy McElwee-Stevens Incumbent |
9.4% | 2,648 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sharon H. Van Leer |
8.7% | 2,464 | |
| Nonpartisan | Molly Lutz | 8.7% | 2,458 | |
| Nonpartisan | David G. Kemper Incumbent | 8% | 2,267 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Thissen | 6.7% | 1,900 | |
| Nonpartisan | Michael P. Edman | 6.7% | 1,880 | |
| Nonpartisan | Raj Gandhi | 6.4% | 1,803 | |
| Nonpartisan | Frederick E. Hess | 5.9% | 1,679 | |
| Nonpartisan | Leilani Holmstadt | 5.5% | 1,567 | |
| Nonpartisan | Wayne A. Johnson | 5.5% | 1,541 | |
| Nonpartisan | John P. Griffin, II | 4.7% | 1,323 | |
| Nonpartisan | Safiyyah Cummings | 1.2% | 339 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.6% | 163 | |
| Total Votes | 28,261 | |||
| Source: Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Results for Selected Contests in School District No. 833 - South Washington County," accessed December 18, 2013 and Scott Wente, South Washington County Bulletin, "Recount confirms Van Leer District 833 School Board victory," November 22, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Raj Gandhi reported no contributions or expenditures to South Washington County Schools.[3]
Endorsements
Raj Gandhi did not receive any official endorsements for his campaign.
Campaign themes
In a survey with United for MN School District 833, Gandhi provided the following campaign themes:[4]
|
Increase parent involvement. Improve precision and decrease repetition of District emails to families. Graduate students to become well-rounded community members. Find alternate metrics (besides test scores) to determine the success of our schools. |
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Raj + Gandhi + South + Washington + County + Schools"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Amber Kispert-Smith, Woodbury Bulletin, "Candidate profile: Raj Gandhi," October 15, 2013
- ↑ Bob Shaw, TwinCities.com, "South Washington County school board candidate: Facebook photo was a joke," October 4, 2013
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through e-mail from the Communications department of South Washington County Schools on January 3, 2014
- ↑ United for MN School District 833, "Raj Gandhi," accessed October 22, 2013
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