San Marcos Unified School District elections (2016)
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Three of the five seats on the San Marcos Unified School District Governing Board were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Janet McClean and Randy Walton ran against challengers Lucia Acosta, Michael Brock, Victor Graham, and Leticia Robles.[1] McClean and Walton won re-election, and Graham won the other seat on the ballot.[2]
McClean and Graham participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. Click here to read their responses.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The San Marcos Unified Governing Board consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held at large on a staggered basis every November of even-numbered years. Two seats were up for election on November 4, 2014, and three seats were up for election on November 8, 2016. There was no primary election.[3]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to register with the county elections office by August 12, 2016. If incumbents did not file by that deadline, the filing deadline was extended for non-incumbent candidates until August 17, 2016. In order to qualify as candidates, they had to be at least 18 years old, citizens of California, residents of the school district, registered voters, and "not legally disqualified from holding civil office," according to the bylaws of the San Marcos Unified Governing Board. Once they took office, school board members could not be employed by the school district.[4][5]
To vote in this election, residents of the school district had to register by October 24, 2016.[6] Photo identification was not required to vote in this election.[7]
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| San Marcos Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Randy Walton Incumbent |
20.97% | 17,999 |
| Janet McClean Incumbent |
19.95% | 17,116 |
| Victor Graham |
15.67% | 13,445 |
| Lucia Acosta | 15.60% | 13,388 |
| Leticia Robles | 15.24% | 13,078 |
| Michael Brock | 12.57% | 10,789 |
| Total Votes | 85,815 | |
| Source: San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election - Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed December 9, 2016 | ||
Candidates
Janet McClean 
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Randy Walton
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Lucia Acosta | |||
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| Michael Brock | Victor Graham
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Leticia Robles | |||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2016
The district's school board election shared the ballot with two bond measures for San Diego County, a number of statewide ballot measures, and with elections for the following offices:[8][9]
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Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for California school board elections in 2016:[10][11]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| August 1, 2016 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
| August 10, 2016 - November 8, 2016 | 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period |
| August 12, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| August 17, 2016 | Extended filing deadline for non-incumbent candidates for open seats |
| September 29, 2016 | First pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 24, 2016 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 27, 2016 | Second pre-election campaign finance report due |
| November 8, 2016 | Election Day |
| January 31, 2017 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
Endorsements
The Republican Party of San Diego County, VoteConservativeSanDiego.com, SanDiegoTaxfighters.com, and NewsRadio 600's San Diego Voter Guide endorsed challenger Victor Graham.[12][13][14] The San Marcos Educators' Association endorsed incumbents Janet McClean and Randy Walton and challenger Lucia Acosta.[15]
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Candidates in this race were required to file two pre-election reports. The first was due on September 29, 2016, and the second was due on October 27, 2016. If candidates received more than $1,000 from a single source between August 10, 2016, and November 8, 2016, they had to file a campaign finance report within 24 hours of receiving the contribution.[11]
Candidates who did not raise or spend more than $2,000 on their campaigns had to file an exemption form by September 29, 2016. They did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[11]
Candidates who had a remaining balance from previous campaigns or who had raised or spent money on their campaigns prior to the candidate filing deadline had to file a semi-annual campaign finance report by August 1, 2016. The next semi-annual campaign finance report was due January 31, 2017.[11]
Reports
All six candidates in this race filed an exemption form detailing they would not spend or receive more than $2,000 for this campaign. Because of this, they did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[16]
Past elections
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What was at stake?
2016
Issues in the district
Voting-rights lawsuit
A voting-rights lawsuit was filed against the San Marcos Unified School District on behalf of two district residents on October 4, 2016. The lawsuit said the district's at-large school board election method "disenfranchises Latino voters" and violates the California Voting Rights Act, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.[17]
The district was first notified that a voting-rights lawsuit could be filed in December 2015. Board President Janet McClean said the board decided to wait until after the election on November 8, 2016, to look into switching election methods. Kevin Shenkman, attorney for the two district residents, said he waited for 10 months for the district to respond to the notice. “I really expected the San Marcos school district to say they didn’t realize (the alleged disenfranchisement) and they would change — and that would be the end of it,” Shenkman said.[17]
In San Marcos Unified's 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 school board elections, Latino voters ran for seats but did not get elected despite accounting for approximately one-third of the district's population, according to the lawsuit. Stacy Carlson, a Latina elected to the board in 2014, called the lawsuit “disingenuous.” Carlson's father was born in Mexico. She said, "It’s hard to say how anyone could say there is a lack of diversity on the board, given my ties to the Latino community.”[17]
Superintendent Kevin Holt said that the board looked into changing to a by-district election method in 2013. District officials decided not to pursue a change after an outside law firm conducted a study that showed the district was not disenfranchising Latino voters.[17]
McClean expressed disappointment that the lawsuit was filed. “We consider ourselves to be open and accessible,” she said.[17]
The board voted to change to by-district elections after the lawsuit was filed. They planned to have the new districts in place by the November 2018 election.[18]
Candidate survey
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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
Survey responses
Two candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from incumbent Janet McClean and challenger Victor Graham.
Hope to achieve
When asked what she hoped to achieve if re-elected to the school board, McClean stated:
| “ | I bring an open mind and an honest commitment to improve our schools and provide the learning environment our students and educators deserve.[19] | ” |
| —Janet McClean (September 20, 2016)[20] | ||
Graham said he hoped to achieve the following if elected to the school board:
| “ | Promote freedom for teachers, parents, students and taxpayers. Teachers should not have to join a union for employment, parents and students should be able to choose the school that they think is best, and taxpayers should be allowed to employ competition at the local level to improve value.[19] | ” |
| —Victor Graham (September 20, 2016)[21] | ||
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 their rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | McClean's ranking | Graham's ranking | ||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Improving relations with teachers | ||||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Improving post-secondary readiness | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer nine multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to their responses can be found below.
About the district
The San Marcos Unified School District is located in San Diego County in southern California. The county seat is San Diego. San Diego County was home to 3,299,521 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[22] The district was the 74th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 20,107 students.[23]
Demographics
San Diego County outperformed California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2010 and 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 35.1 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 31 percent of state residents. The median household income for San Diego County was $63,996, compared to $61,489 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 14.7 percent, while it was 16.4 percent statewide.[22]
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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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'San Marcos Unified School District' 'California'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| San Marcos Unified School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate List: 2016 General Election," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County, "Presidential General Election Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ San Marcos Unified School District, "Governing Board Members," accessed August 9, 2016
- ↑ San Marcos Unified School District, "Governing Board Policies and Procedures," accessed August 9, 2016
- ↑ California Elections Code, “Part 5, Section 10600-10604: School District And Community College District Governing Board Elections,” accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "California Online Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate List: 2016 General Election," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Local Measures for November 8, 2016: County of San Diego," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "November 8, 2016, General Election Calendar," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 8, 2016," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ The Republican Party of San Diego County, "2016 General Election: Local Endorsements," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Vic Graham," October 19, 2016
- ↑ NewsRadio 600, "San Diego Voter Guide: SCHOOL CANDIDATES," October 4, 2016
- ↑ San Marcos Educators' Association, "Home," accessed October 27, 2016
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "CampaignDocs eRetrieval: Search by Candidate's Last Name," accessed October 5, 2016
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 The San Diego Union-Tribune, "San Marcos schools sued over Latino voting power," October 7, 2016
- ↑ San Diego Union Tribune, "San Marcos schools switch to voting zones," January 30, 2017
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Janet McClean's responses," September 20, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Victor Graham's responses," September 20, 2016
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 United States Census Bureau, "San Diego County, California," accessed June 16, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election November 6, 2012, Official Results," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election November 4, 2008, Official Results," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "General Election November 2, 2004, Final Official Results," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "General Election November 7, 2000," accessed July 14, 2014
| 2016 San Marcos Unified School District Elections | |
| San Diego County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Janet McClean • Incumbent, Randy Walton • Lucia Acosta • Michael Brock • Victor Graham • Leticia Robles |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
