Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

Ronnie Kellam

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Ronnie Kellam
Image of Ronnie Kellam
Elections and appointments
Last election

May 12, 2020

Education

High school

Malcolm X Shabazz High School

Associate

Essex County College

Personal
Profession
Security Officer
Contact

Ronnie Kellam ran for election for an at-large seat of the Newark Public Schools Board of Education in New Jersey. Kellam lost in the general election on May 12, 2020.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Kellam graduated from Malcolm X. Shabazz High School in Newark before studying for an associate degree from Essex County College.[1] He is employed by both Conway Stores and McDonald's as a security and loss prevention officer. Kellam has stated that he is interested in serving in the Newark public school system as a school administrator.[2]

Elections

2020

See also: Newark Public Schools, New Jersey, elections (2020)

General election

General election for Newark Public Schools Board of Education (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Newark Public Schools Board of Education on May 12, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Josephine Garcia
Josephine Garcia (Nonpartisan)
 
27.7
 
5,877
Image of Flohisha Johnson
Flohisha Johnson (Nonpartisan)
 
26.1
 
5,542
Image of Hasani Council
Hasani Council (Nonpartisan)
 
25.1
 
5,323
Image of Sheila Montague
Sheila Montague (Nonpartisan)
 
9.3
 
1,981
Phillip Wilson (Nonpartisan)
 
5.7
 
1,206
Image of Ronnie Kellam
Ronnie Kellam (Nonpartisan)
 
4.6
 
965
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.5
 
314

Total votes: 21,208
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2015

See also: Newark Public Schools elections (2015)

Three of the nine seats on the Newark Advisory Board were up for election on April 21, 2015. Only one incumbent, Marques-Aquil Lewis, filed to run for re-election. He faced the following seven challengers on the general election ballot: Natasha Alvarado, Veronica Branch, Dashay Carter, Crystal Fonseca, Ronnie Kellam, Charles Love III, and Sheila Montague. Lewis, Carter, and Fonseca were chosen for Mayor Ras J. Barak's "Children First Team" slate.[3]

Michael Diaz and Ivan Holmes also filed to run in this election but did not appear on the ballot. Holmes withdrew from the race and Diaz was disqualified.[4]

The Baraka-backed candidates Lewis, Carter, and Fonseca, won the three seat up for election.


Results

Newark Public Schools,
At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngCrystal Fonseca 21.9% 3,745
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngMarques-Aquil Lewis Incumbent 21.8% 3,729
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngDashay Carter 19.4% 3,311
     Nonpartisan Charles Love III 11.4% 1,955
     Nonpartisan Sheila Montague 10.1% 1,729
     Nonpartisan Veronica Branch 9.6% 1,637
     Nonpartisan Natasha Alvarado 3.4% 584
     Nonpartisan Ronnie Kellam 2% 347
     Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.4% 63
Total Votes 17,100
Source: Essex County Clerk, "2015 School Board Election," April 27, 2015

Funding

Kellam reported no contributions or expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission as of April 17, 2015.[5]

Endorsements

Kellam received no official endorsements as of April 2, 2015.

2014

See also: Newark Public Schools elections (2014)

Kellam lost to incumbents Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson and Philip C. Seelinger Jr. and fellow newcomer Donald G. Jackson Jr. in the election for three at-large seats on April 23, 2014. Baskerville-Richardson, Seelinger and Reginald Bledsoe campaigned as the "Children First" slate endorsed by then-mayoral candidate Ras J. Baraka. Bledsoe was the only member of the slate not to win a seat.[6]

Results

Newark Public Schools,
At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngPhilip C. Seelinger Jr. Incumbent 20.1% 2,894
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngAntoinette Baskerville-Richardson Incumbent 19% 2,734
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngDonald G. Jackson Jr. 16.8% 2,421
     Nonpartisan Reginald Bledsoe 16.4% 2,352
     Nonpartisan Crystal Fonseca 12.1% 1,743
     Nonpartisan Rachelle Moss 8.3% 1,198
     Nonpartisan Shakima K. Thomas 4% 575
     Nonpartisan Ronnie Kellam 2.8% 405
     Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.3% 48
Total Votes 14,370
Source: Essex County, New Jersey, "2014 School Board Election," accessed June 11, 2014

Funding

Kellam reported no contributions or expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in this election.[7]

Endorsements

Kellam did not receive any official endorsements for this campaign.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ronnie Kellam did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2015

Kellam provided the following statement on his Facebook campaign page:

For the majority of my education in Newark, I was constantly reminded that I was a student with special needs. Expectations were lowered for me. Educators and students did not always understand. I found my own way to keep fighting to be seen and heard. My educational needs were not met. My IEP was a plan on paper. And I did not see my issues being addressed in the leadership. So I became a leader. I became President in Shabazz High School. I worked hard and beyond my limits. I read, researched and became a strong advocate for Newark Public Schools. I joined the Abbott Leadership Institute and the Youth Media Symposium and never missed a class. I stepped up and stood up for the youth when many of the adults turned their heads. Yes I may have had and IEP but my VOICE was stronger than that. My voice is the plan God has for me. I am the Fighter who Fights for Education.

I am running for the school board to show students with special needs that you don’t have to shy away from leadership. That you can take part in politics. See, no one knows what students need in Newark more than you. You may not always say the right thing in the right way, but as long as you speak from the heart and dedicate yourself to service, you can achieve. People will vote for you. You can win. I hope you will vote for me. I want to SERVE on the school board. It is a dream of mine. I am not afraid to stand up for students and their rights. I know what it means to be in a classroom and not have your needs met to make you the best student. In some schools 30 percent of students need me. I am not giving up.[8]

—Ronnie Kellam's Facebook campaign page (2015)[9]

2014

Kellam provided the following statement on his Facebook campaign page:

Slowly but surely there has been a consistent progression to take away our jobs, homes, benefits, unemployment benefits, equitable/adequate education, social security benefits, safety policing and most of all the lives of our youth.

Ronnie Kellam deserves your vote and support on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 for the school board election because I have been in the community fighting on these issues with my mind, body, and soul.

Fight for representation that is going to fight for you[8]

—Ronnie Kellam's Facebook campaign page (2015)[10]

See also


External links

Footnotes