Richland School District elections (2015)
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Three seats on the Richland School District Board of Directors were up for general election on November 3, 2015. Positions 3, 4 and 5 were on the ballot. Because more than two candidates filed for Positions 4 and 5, a primary election for those races was held on August 4, 2015, with the top two vote recipients advancing to the general election.
A mandatory recount for Position 4 was necessary due to the narrow margin between the two candidates in the general election. Position 4 incumbent Mary Guay did not file to seek re-election. Her open seat drew the most candidate filings in the district's elections. Brett Amidan, a returning candidate from 2013, Emily Allen, and Jill Oldson appeared on the primary ballot for the seat. Amidan and Oldson triumphed over Allen in that race and competed in the general election. Certified results showed just two votes placed Oldson over Amidan, necessitating the recount for the race. After the recount, the candidates were declared tied. A coin toss was held to break the tie, and Amidan was declared the winner.[1]
Ronald Higgins, a 2012 candidate for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction, initially filed to run for the Position 4 seat. He withdrew from that race on May 15, 2015, in order to run for the Position 3 seat, instead. He lost to Position 3 incumbent Rick Donahoe in that race.
Position 5 incumbent Phyllis Strickler saw the second highest candidate filings in her race and was ultimately unseated. Returning 2013 candidate Gordon Comfort and Donald Todd ran against her in the primary. Strickler and Comfort advanced to the general election, where Comfort defeated the sitting board member.
About the district
- See also: Richland School District, Washington
Richland School District is located in Benton County in south-central Washington. The county seat is Prosser. Benton County was home to an estimated 184,486 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[2] In the 2011-2012 school year, Richland School District was the 28th-largest school district in Washington, serving 11,646 students.[3]
Demographics
In 2013, Benton County underperformed in comparison to the state of Washington as a whole in terms of higher education achievement, while also outperforming it in median household income and poverty rate. The United States Census Bureau found that 28.9 percent of Benton County residents aged 25 and older had earned a bachelor's degree or higher, while the rate was 31.9 percent for Washington as a whole. The median household income was $60,485 in Benton County in comparison to $59,478 statewide. The rate of persons living below the poverty line in Benton County was 12.8 percent compared to 13.4 percent for the entire state.[2]
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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 Richland School Board consists of five members elected at-large to four-year terms. Candidates run for specific numbered board positions which all registered voters of the district may vote upon. If more than two candidates filed for any one position up for election, a primary election was held on August 4, 2015. The general election for Positions 1 and 2 was November 3, 2015.
Elections in Washington require candidates to pay filing fees equal to 1 percent of a position's annual salary. Board members in Richland can be reimbursed up to $4,800 for district activities but do not receive salaries, which eliminates the filing fee. Candidates were required to file for this election by May 15, 2015.
Elections
2015
Candidates
This symbol, 
, next to a candidate's name indicates his or her participation in Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey. Click the image next to a candidate's name to jump to the section that details his or her responses.
Position 3
Election results
| Richland School District Board of Directors, Position 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Rick Donahoe Incumbent |
57.6% | 7,133 |
| Ronald Higgins | 42.4% | 5,259 |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 |
| Total Votes | 12,392 | |
| Source: Benton County, Washington, "November 3, 2015 General Election," November 24, 2015 | ||
General election candidates
Rick Donahoe 
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Ronald Higgins
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Position 4
Election results
Unofficial election returns showed a three-vote margin between candidates Jill Oldson (6,178 votes) and Brett Amidan (6,175 votes). After an official recount, the race was declared a tie with each candidate receiving 6,178 votes. A coin toss was held to break the tie and Amidan won the seat.[1]
General election candidates
| Brett Amidan
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Jill Oldson | ||
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Candidate defeated in the primary
Position 5
Election results
| Richland School District Board of Directors, Position 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Gordon Comfort |
52.1% | 6,585 |
| Phyllis Strickler Incumbent | 47.9% | 6,062 |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 |
| Total Votes | 12,647 | |
| Source: Benton County, Washington, "November 3, 2015 General Election," November 24, 2015 | ||
| Richland School District Board of Directors, Position 5 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Phyllis Strickler Incumbent |
40.2% | 2,977 |
| Gordon Comfort |
36.9% | 2,737 |
| Donald Todd | 22.9% | 1,698 |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 |
| Total Votes | 7,412 | |
| Source: Benton County, "August 4, 2015 Primary," accessed August 20, 2015 | ||
General election candidates
| Phyllis Strickler | Gordon Comfort
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Candidate defeated in the primary
Endorsements
Rick Donahoe, Brett Amidan and Gordon Comfort were endorsed by the Tri-City Herald.[5] Jill Oldson was endorsed by the Washington Education Association-Southeast (WEA).[6]
Campaign finance
No contributions or expenditures were reported as of October 31, 2015, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission.[7]
Candidates who raised and spent no more than $5,000 in aggregate and who did not receive more than $500 from any one contributor, including themselves, could participate in "mini reporting." These candidates were required to file a candidate registration statement and keep a record of their contributors and expenditures, but they were not required to report them unless they exceed the stated thresholds. In those cases, they were required to switch their filing status from "mini" to "full" reporting by August 31, 2015.[8]
Contributions to school board candidate committees were subject to the following limits:[8]
- State parties or caucus political committees (separately): $0.95 per registered voter from January 1 to December 31
- County and legislative district parties (combined): $0.50 per registered voter from January 1 to December 31
- Individuals, PACS, unions, corporations or other entities (separately): $950 per primary and general election
School board candidate committees were prohibited from receiving contributions from other candidate committees. No contributors except state committees of political parties could give more than $5,000 in aggregate in the 21 days prior to the election.[8]
Past elections
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2013Seat 1General
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What was at stake?
Ballotpedia survey responses
Two of the eight candidates appeared on the ballot in either the primary or general election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display their responses to the survey questions.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Ronald Higgins stated:
| “ | Ensuring that parents have the ultimate authority as to the education of their children.
Education, not Indoctrination![9] |
” |
| —Ron Higgins (2015)[10] | ||
When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Emily Allen stated:
| “ | My top priority as an educator has always been to do my best to make decisions that will have the best results for student achievement. I am not running with an agenda; I will come to each meeting prepared for discussion as we try to reach consensus about what is best for the kids.[9] | ” |
| —Emily Allen (2015)[11] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays the candidates' rankings from most to least important:
| Issue | Position 3 | Position 4 | |
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| Higgins | Allen | ||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |||
| Closing the achievement gap | |||
| Expanding arts education | |||
| Expanding career-technical education | |||
| Expanding school choice options | |||
| Improving college readiness | |||
| Improving education for special needs students | |||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. Links to the candidates' responses can be found below.
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Position 3 |
Position 4 |
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the 2015 Washington school board elections:[12][13]
| Deadline | Event |
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| May 11-15, 2015 | Candidate filing period |
| May 18, 2015 | Deadline for candidates to withdraw |
| July 14, 2015 | Pre-primary campaign finance report due |
| July 27, 2015 | Voter registration deadline for primary election |
| July 28, 2015 | Pre-primary campaign finance report due |
| August 4, 2015 | Primary election day, if necessary |
| September 10, 2015 | Post-primary campaign finance report due |
| October 13, 2015 | Pre-general campaign finance report due |
| October 26, 2015 | Voter registration deadline for general election |
| October 27, 2015 | Pre-general campaign finance report due |
| November 3, 2015 | General Election Day |
| November 24, 2015 | Election results certified |
| December 10, 2015 | Post-general campaign finance report due |
| January 11, 2016 | End of election cycle campaign finance report due |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Richland School District Washington. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Richland School District | Washington | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tri-City Herald, "Amidan wins coin toss for Richland School Board seat," December 8, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "State & County QuickFacts: Benton County, Washington," accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Benton County Elections, "Archived Election Results," accessed August 7, 2013
- ↑ Tri-City Herald, "Our Voice: Comfort, Donahoe and Amidan for Richland schools," October 8, 2015
- ↑ Benton County Auditor's Office, "Voter Pamphlet: Jill M. Oldson," accessed October 16, 2015
- ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Search the Database: Local Candidates," accessed October 31, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Mini Campaign Reporting Disclosure Instructions," June 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Ronald Higgins' responses," October 20, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Emily Allen's responses," July 20, 2015
- ↑ Clark County Elections, "2015 Elections Calendar," accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "2015 Key Reporting Dates for Candidates," accessed January 23, 2015
| 2015 Richland School District Elections | |
| Benton County, Washington | |
| Election date: | Primary - August 4, 2015
General - November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Position 3 : Incumbent, Rick Donahoe • Ronald Higgins
Position 4 : Brett Amidan • Emily Allen • Jill Oldson Position 5 : Incumbent, Phyllis Strickler • Gordon Comfort • Donald Todd |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
