Robert B. Blow
Robert B. Blow was a Democratic candidate for District 6 on the Vernon Parish School Board in Louisiana. He ran for office in the November 4, 2014, general election against incumbent Vernon Travis Jr. Travis previously defeated Blow in the 2010 election. Robert B. Blow lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Biography
Blow graduated from Vernon Junior High school and Leesville High School. He earned a bachelor's in sociology with a minor in anthropology from Northwestern State University. He worked as a fireman with the Atlanta, Georgia, Fire Department for 26 years, and moved back to Leesville upon his retirement. He also worked as a substitute teacher in Atlanta at Emma Hutchins Elementary.[1]
He is a member of the Wampus Cat Gridiron Club and the Jubilee Park Committee.[1]
Elections
2014
Twelve seats on the Vernon Parish School Board were up for election on November 4, 2014. District 1 had five representatives on the school board, while the remaining seven districts had one representative each. Incumbents for all districts were up for re-election. Candidates who were unopposed at the end of the filing period, on August 22, 2014, were considered elected as of that date.
All five incumbents for District 1 sought re-election. Three newcomers, John J. Driscoll (I), Jim Seaman (I) and Sam Fulton (D), challenged incumbents Randi Schamerhorn Gleason (R), Mel Harris (D), Robert Pynes Jr. (D), Doug Brandon (R) and Steve Woods (I).[2]
District 3 incumbent Richard Schwartz (R) did not file to run for re-election. Newcomers David J. Detz (R) and T.D. Holcomb (D) ran for the open seat.
Jesse Lentz (D) and James "PeeWee" McKee, Jr. (D) challenged incumbent Michael "Mike" Perkins (D) for the District 5 seat. Incumbent Vernon Travis, Jr. (D) faced Robert B. Blow (D) in the District 6 race. District 8 incumbent Gerald Cooley (R) ran against challenger Jeremy Goodwin (D).[2]
The District 2, 4 and 7 races were uncontested. Angie Wise-Davis (D) was elected without opposition to the District 2 seat. Incumbent Jerry L. Jeane (R) did not file to run for re-election. District 4 incumbent William "Randy" Martin (D) and District 7 incumbent John Blankenbaker (R) were re-election without opposition.[2]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Vernon Travis Jr. Incumbent |
65.8% | 582 | |
| Democratic | Robert B. Blow | 34.2% | 302 | |
| Total Votes | 884 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed December 5, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Blow reported no contributions of expenditures to the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program as of October 29, 2014.[3]
2010
| Vernon Parish School District, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Vernon Travis Jr. Incumbent |
62.1% | 305 | |
| Independent | Robert B. Blow | 37.9% | 186 | |
| Total Votes | 491 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed September 3, 2014 | ||||
What was at stake?
Prior to the election, the partisan make of the board was five Democrats, four Republicans and three independents. With incumbents switching party affiliations and open seats, the partisan composition of the board was likely to change with this election. Three seats were guaranteed for the Democrats and one for the Republicans.
Three board members changed their party affiliations for the 2014 election. William "Randy" Martin, the District 4 incumbent, was first elected as a Democrat, but was re-elected as an independent in 2010. He returned to the Democratic Party for the 2014 election, where he was elected without opposition. District 7 incumbent John Blankenbaker was re-elected without opposition to his third term as a Republican. He won his first and second terms as a Democrat. The third incumbent to switch party affiliations, Steve Woods in District 1, was elected as a Republican in 2006 and 2010. He ran as an independent in the 2014 election.
Beyond the board's partisan make up, this years elections will be the first affected by the term limits approved by voters in 2012. While District 7 did not see a race for its representative on the school board, a bond issue specifically addressing that district was on the ballot.
Issues
Issues in the election
District 7 bond
- See also: Additional elections on the ballot
The school board asked District 7 voters to approve a 10-year bond issue of $1.2 million to pay for sidewalks, playgrounds and other improvements. These funds would be used by Rosepine Elementary and its high school efforts. This could include new buildings, renovations, a new high school track and land acquisition.[4]
The full text of the ballot question can be read here.
Issues in the district
Term limits
Terms won in this election were the first to be affected by the imposition of term limits on school board members in the parish. On November 6, 2012, Vernon Parish voters elected by a more than three-quarters majority to instate term limits.
The question appeared on the ballot as follows:
| “ | LOCAL OPTION ELECTION
Within Vernon Parish School District: Shall the number of terms of office that any member of the school board may serve be limited to three consecutive four-year terms?[5] |
” |
| —Louisiana Secretary of State's website (2014)[6] | ||
Election results
| Parishwide School District Proposition (2012) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Yes | 11126 | 78.25% | ||
| No | 3092 | 21.75% | ||
Starting with terms that began on or after January 1, 2014, any member who, at the end of his or her term, has served more than two and one-half terms in the last three consecutive terms cannot be re-elected in the following term. However, they can be re-elected following the one term break. The limit does not apply retroactively to incumbents, thus allowing them to potentially serve up to 12 more years.[7][8][9]
New elementary school
On May 6, 2014, the school board voted unanimously to begin the bidding process for the construction of a new school. The school will replace South Polk Elementary. The projected cost of the project was $21 million dollars. The costs will be covered with $18 million from the U.S. Department of Defense, $2 million from the district's general fund and $1 million from the state.[4]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Robert + Blow + Vernon + Parish + School + District"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Leesville Daily Leader, "Blow vying for District 6 school board seat," August 30, 2010
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, "Louisiana Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 American Press, "Vernon School Board to open bidding process for new school," May 7, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed September 11, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "HOW ARE CANDIDATES ELECTED?" accessed September 2, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES," accessed September 2, 2014
- ↑ American Press, "School board members now have term limits," November 7, 2012
