Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.

Saint Paul Public Schools elections (2015)

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
2016 →
← 2013
School Board badge.png
2015 Saint Paul 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
Minnesota
Saint Paul Public Schools
Ramsey County, Minnesota ballot measures
Local ballot measures, Minnesota
Flag of Minnesota.png

Four seats on the Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015.

The seats of incumbents Anne Carroll, Mary Doran, Keith Hardy and Louise Seeba were up for election.[1] Hardy, who was the only incumbent who filed for re-election, faced challengers Aaron Anthony Benner, Greg Copeland, Zuki Ellis, Linda Freeman, Steve Marchese, Scott Raskiewicz, Jon Schumacher and Mary Vanderwert for the four at-large seats.

Ellis, Marchese, Schumacher and Vanderwert won the four seats. All four were endorsed by the Saint Paul Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and they campaigned together as an unofficial candidate slate.[2]

Benner informally ended his campaign on September 16, 2015, but he still appeared on the ballot since the formal withdrawal deadline was August 13, 2015. He stated that if he had won, he would not take office.[3] Copeland previously ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the board in 2013.

About the district

See also: Saint Paul Public Schools, Minnesota
Saint Paul Public Schools is located in Ramsey County, Minn.

Saint Paul Public Schools is located in east-central Minnesota in Ramsey County. The county seat is St. Paul. This county was home to 508,640 residents in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau.[4] In the 2011-2012 school year, Saint Paul Public Schools was the second-largest school district in Minnesota and served 38,310 students.[5]

Demographics

Ramsey County outperformed the rest of Minnesota in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 39.4 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 32.6 percent for Minnesota as a whole. The median household income in Ramsey County was $54,247, compared to $59,836 for the state of Minnesota. The poverty rate was 16.9 percent, compared to 11.5 percent for the entire state.[4]

Racial Demographics, 2013[4]
Race Ramsey County (%) Minnesota (%)
White 70.9 86.2
Black or African American 11.6 5.7
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9 1.3
Asian 13.2 4.5
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.1 0.1
Two or More Races 3.3 2.3
Hispanic or Latino 7.3 5.0

Presidential Voting Pattern, Ramsey County[6]
Year Democratic Vote Republican Vote
2012 184,938 86,800
2008 182,974 88,942
2004 171,846 97,096
2000 138,470 87,669

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 Saint Paul Board of Education consists of seven members elected at-large to four-year terms. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 3, 2015. Four seats were up for election in 2015.[1]

School board candidates had to file nomination documents during the candidate filing period, which began on July 28, 2015, and ended on August 11, 2015. The deadline for candidates to withdraw was August 13, 2015.[7]

Elections

2015

Candidates

At-large
Keith Hardy Aaron Anthony Benner Greg Copeland

Keith Hardy.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • B.A., the University of Texas at Arlington
  • M.S., the University of Minnesota

Aaron Anthony Benner.jpg

  • Informally withdrew on September 16, 2015, but still on ballot
  • Educator

Greg Copeland.jpg

  • B.A., Saint Leo University
  • Former Maplewood city manager
  • Former chair, St. Paul Republican Party Committee
Zuki Ellis Green check mark transparent.png Linda Freeman Steve Marchese Green check mark transparent.png

Zuki Ellis.jpg

  • Graduate, Metropolitan State University
  • Parent trainer, the St. Paul Federation of Teachers Parent Teacher Home Visit Project

Linda Freeman.jpg

  • M.Ed., Loyola University Maryland
  • Educator

Steve Marchese.jpg

  • B.A., Yale University
  • J.D., New York University
  • Pro bono development director, Minnesota State Bar Association
Scott Raskiewicz Jon Schumacher Green check mark transparent.png Mary Vanderwert Green check mark transparent.png

Scott Raskiewicz.png

Jon Schumacher.png

  • Executive director, St. Anthony Park Community Foundation

Mary Vanderwert.jpg

Election results

Saint Paul Public Schools, At-Large, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Mary Vanderwert 20.3% 17,777
Green check mark transparent.png Zuki Ellis 17.4% 15,290
Green check mark transparent.png Jon Schumacher 16.7% 14,652
Green check mark transparent.png Steve Marchese 16.6% 14,524
Keith Hardy Incumbent 9.7% 8,548
Linda Freeman 6.7% 5,914
Greg Copeland 5.1% 4,468
Scott Raskiewicz 3.2% 2,810
Aaron Anthony Benner 3.0% 2,660
Write-in votes 1.19% 1,047
Total Votes 87,690
Source: Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Local Results in Ramsey County," accessed November 4, 2015
These election results are not official and will be updated when certified results are available. You can submit certified results by contacting us.

Endorsements

The following is a list of endorsements made in the 2015 Saint Paul Public Schools elections:[8][9][10][11][12]

Candidate endorsements
Endorsement Keith Hardy Greg Copeland Zuki Ellis Linda Freeman Steve Marchese Scott Raskiewicz Jon Schumacher Mary Vanderwert
Political organizations
Democratic Party Saint Paul Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party[13]
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Democratic Party DFL Feminist Caucus
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Democratic Party Stonewall DFL
{{{1}}}
womenwinning
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Labor organizations
AFSCME Council 5
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
IBEW Local 110
{{{1}}}
St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Saint Paul Federation of Teachers Local 28
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Teamsters Joint Council 32
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Federal politicians
U.S. Representative Betty McCollum (D)
{{{1}}}
State politicians
State Sen. Sandra Pappas (D-65)
{{{1}}}
State Sen. Foung Hawj (D-67)
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
State Rep. Erin Murphy (D-64A)
{{{1}}}
State Rep. Dave Pinto (D-64B)
{{{1}}}
State Rep. Rena Moran (D-65A)
{{{1}}}
State Rep. Carlos Mariani (D-65B)
{{{1}}}
State Rep. Alice Hausman (D-66A)
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
State Rep. John Lesch (D-66B)
{{{1}}}
State Rep. Sheldon Johnson (D-67B)
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Current board members
John Brodrick
{{{1}}}
Anne Carroll
{{{1}}}
Mary Doran
{{{1}}}
Jean O'Connell
{{{1}}}
{{{1}}}
Louise Seeba
{{{1}}}
Chue Vue
{{{1}}}

Campaign finance

Candidates received a total of $102,626.27 and spent a total of $75,101.04 during the election, according to the Ramsey County Election Office.[14]

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Keith Hardy $18,231.77 $12,146.16 $6,085.61
Aaron Anthony Benner $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Greg Copeland $1,002.00 $314.81 $687.19
Zuki Ellis $13,755.00 $11,212.29 $2,542.71
Linda Freeman $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Steve Marchese $18,141.00 $15,187.11 $2,953.89
Scott Raskiewicz $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Jon Schumacher $28,375.00 $19,830.26 $8,544.74
Mary Vanderwert $23,121.50 $16,410.41 $6,711.09

Past elections

What was at stake?

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey
Candidate Connection Logo - stacked.png

One of the nine candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses of Mary Vanderwert.

Top priorities

When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Mary Vanderwert stated:

“ I believe that the organizational culture of the St. Paul Public Schools needs to be improved. We need a school board, staff, parents and administration that have a common vision for the direction of the schools and are willing to work together toward those goals. While some school sites have really effective, positive cultures, it is inconsistent across the city. Culture comes from the leadership of an organization and we want one that is collaborative, creative, supportive and exciting. We need a culture that values the contributions of staff and provides them a voice in decision-making. With a healthy culture focused on the mission and with effective leadership, we can make SPPS the best school district in this country.[15] ”
—Mary Vanderwert, 2015[16]
Ranking the issues

The candidate was 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 candidate's rankings:

Issue importance ranking
Issue Vanderwert
Expanding arts education
5
Expanding career-technical education
4
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
3
Improving college readiness
6
Closing the achievement gap
1
Improving education for special needs students
2
Expanding school choice options
7
Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to the candidate's responses can be found below.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Saint Paul Public Schools election in 2015:[7]

Deadline Event
July 28, 2015 First day for candidates to file nomination documents
August 11, 2015 Last day for candidates to file nomination documents
August 13, 2015 Last day for candidates to withdraw
November 3, 2015 Election Day

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Minnesota elections, 2015

This election shared the ballot with the general election for city council in Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.[17]

Recent news

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

Saint Paul Public Schools elections (2015) - Google News

See also

Saint Paul Public Schools Minnesota School Boards
School Board badge.png
Seal of Minnesota.png
School Board badge.png

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Saint Paul Public Schools, "The Saint Paul Board of Education," accessed January 26, 2015
  2. ↑ Pioneer Press, "Ellis, Marchese, Schumacher, Vanderwert: We're of varied background and opinion, and we'll keep doing our homework," April 25, 2015
  3. ↑ Pioneer Press, "Former St. Paul school board candidate's name to remain on ballot," September 17, 2015
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 United States Census Bureau, "Ramsey County, Minnesota," accessed October 14, 2013
  5. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
  6. ↑ Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Election Results and Statistics," accessed October 14, 2013
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Filing Periods," accessed January 26, 2015
  8. ↑ Keith Hardy for Saint Paul School Board, "Supporters," accessed October 19, 2015
  9. ↑ Zuki Ellis for School Board, "Endorsements," accessed October 19, 2015
  10. ↑ Facebook, "Steve Marchese for Saint Paul Schools," accessed October 19, 2015
  11. ↑ Jon Schumacher - Saint Paul School Board, "Supporters," accessed October 19, 2015
  12. ↑ Mary Vanderwert for St. Paul Kids, "Public supporters," accessed October 19, 2015
  13. ↑ Saint Paul City DFL, "Saint Paul DFL-endorsed candidates for city council, school board File for election," July 28, 2015
  14. ↑ Ramsey County Election Office, "Campaign Finance Reports - 2015," accessed November 1, 2015
  15. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  16. ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Mary Vanderwert Responses," October 5, 2015
  17. ↑ Ramsey County, Minnesota, "Notice of Election," accessed October 19 2015
2015 Saint Paul Public Schools Elections
Ramsey County, Minnesota
Election date:November 3, 2015
Candidates:At-large: • Incumbent, Keith Hardy • Aaron Anthony Benner • Greg Copeland • Zuki Ellis • Linda Freeman • Steve Marchese • Scott Raskiewicz • Jon Schumacher • Mary Vanderwert
Important information:What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot
Flag of Minnesota
v • e
State of Minnesota
St. Paul (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Saint_Paul_Public_Schools_elections_(2015)&oldid=7440896"