Sam Davis (California)

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Sam Davis

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Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Oakland Unified Board of Education District 1

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Report an officeholder change

Personal

Birthplace

Oakland, Calif.

Contact

Campaign website

Sam Davis was a member of the Oakland Unified Board of Education in California, representing District 1. He assumed office on January 4, 2021. He left office on January 13, 2025.

Davis ran for election to the Oakland Unified Board of Education to represent District 1 in California. He won in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Davis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2020

See also: Oakland Unified School District, California, elections (2020)

General election

General election for Oakland Unified Board of Education District 1

Select round: Round 2 Round 1

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Sam Davis in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
	Submit photo	Sam Davis	62.5	20,994	4,654	Won (2)
	Submit photo	Austin Dannhaus	37.5	12,581	996	2
		Stacy Thomas	0.0	0	-6,331	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
	Submit photo	Sam Davis	47.7	16,340	0	Won (2)
	Submit photo	Austin Dannhaus	33.8	11,585	0	2
		Stacy Thomas	18.5	6,331	0	2

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 34,256
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Reginald Mosley (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

To view Davis's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Sam Davis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Davis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a public school parent and former Oakland teacher, involved in the schools in our community for the past 17 years. I am running for Oakland school board in North Oakland (District 1). I have been endorsed by the county Democratic Party, the teachers' union (OEA), the Labor Council, state superintendent Tony Thurmond, Asm. Rob Bonta, county superintendent L. Karen Monroe, Supervisor Keith Carson, many local democratic clubs and organizations, and by many teachers, school site staff members, and families at all of the public schools in North Oakland.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Educational equity: excellent education for every student regardless of race or special needs
• Long-term stable budgeting, with transparency and accountability
• Decision-making starts with families and educators, since we know best what students need for success

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

1. Stronger financial practices, long-term budget planning, transparency in budgeting

2. More equitable enrollment process to reduce concentrations of students with highest needs at certain school sites and students with highest privilege at others. This includes holding charter schools accountable for their enrollment practices
3. Increase enrollment in OUSD via more outreach to preschools, and strengthening feeder patterns from elementary to middle and middle to high
4. Zero-based budgeting for central office, same as schools do every year
5. Alternative Education Hub at 1025 Second Ave

6. Climate Crisis plan for OUSD to address sustainability goals

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

To supervise the superintendent, oversee and approve the budget development process, to work with the community to help develop consensus on major educational policy issues, and to advocate on behalf of the district with other elected officials.

Who are your constituents?

The families, teachers and school site staff at all of the schools in North Oakland.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2020 Elections

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Government

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Candidate

Oakland Unified Board of Education District 1

Website