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School board election data analysis, 2020

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2020 school board
election data analysis
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Elections by state

Ballotpedia covered school board elections in 358 school districts in 28 states in 2020. Those school districts had a total student enrollment of 11,995,632 students. This report dives into the 1,025 seats that were up for election in those districts, and the 2,007 candidates who ran to fill those seats.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Of the 2,007 school board candidates who ran for election in 2020, 755 were incumbents and 1,252 were non-incumbents.
  • The average number of candidates who ran per seat was 1.96, and 35.51% of seats were unopposed.
  • Of the incumbents who ran for re-election, 73.66% won new terms.

    • In this report you will find:

    Overview

    Of the 28 states with school board elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2020, California saw the most seats up for election with 245. Texas came in second with 212 seats up for election. Mississippi had the fewest seats up for election with one, while Alaska, Idaho, and New York tied for second-fewest with two each.

    The map below shows how many seats were up for election in school districts covered by Ballotpedia in each state in 2020. Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in the states shown in gray.

    The first table below details the total number of school board seats that were up for election in 2020 as well as how many candidates filed to run, the average number of candidates per seat, the number of incumbents who ran for re-election, how many open seats there were, and the total student enrollment in the districts that held elections. The second table details the same information by state. Click [Show] to the right to see the full list.

    2020 school board election numbers
    State School districts Seats up for election Candidates Candidates per seat Incumbents Open seats Unopposed seats Student enrollment
    Total 358 1,025 2,007 1.96 755 270 364 11,995,632


    The first table below provides details about the winners of the 2020 school board elections, including the percent of seats won by incumbents, won by non-incumbents, and won by write-ins or filled by means other than elections. The second table details the same information by state. Click [Show] to the right to see the full list.

    Winners of the 2020 school board elections
    State Seats won by incumbents Seats won by non-incumbents Seats won by write-ins or that were not filled in election
    Total 60.20% 38.93% 0.88%


    The school districts covered by Ballotpedia in 2020 had a range of student enrollments. The largest enrollments included the Los Angeles Unified School District in California with 483,234 students and Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida with 347,307 students. The smallest enrollments included the General Shafter School District in California with 190 students and the Banner School District in Oklahoma with 298 students. The chart below shows the distribution of school districts by student enrollment size.

    Method of elections

    Partisan method of election

    Ballotpedia covered 358 school districts that held school board elections in 2020. The chart to the left shows how many school districts used nonpartisan elections, where no party affiliation was listed next to candidate names on the ballot, versus partisan elections, where party affiliations of the candidates—such as Democratic or Republican—were included on election ballots.

    A total of 347 school districts (96.93%) used nonpartisan elections, while 11 school districts (3.07%) used partisan elections.

    The school districts that used partisan elections were located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Their 2020 student enrollments fell between 4,612 and 112,097 with a majority landing between 40,000 and 60,000 students.

    Race stage method of election

    School districts holding elections in 2020 used up to four different race stages: primary, primary runoff, general, and general runoff. The chart to the left shows how many districts used the different stage types. All possible stages were included in the chart, though some of them may have been canceled due to lack of opposition.

    A majority of districts, 262 or 73.18%, used only general stages in the 2020 elections. Eighty-one (22.63%) used both primary and general stages. Eight (2.23%) used general and general runoff stages, six (1.68%) used all four stages, and one (0.28%) used primary, primary runoff, and general stages.

    Primary runoff stages were only used in school districts in Alabama and Georgia. General runoff stages were used in school districts in Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas.

    Table of election methods by school district

    The table below shows all of the 358 school districts that held elections in 2020. It includes information on the partisan method of election and race stage method of election for each district. Click [Show] to the right to see the full list.

    Opposition

    By state

    Nevada had the highest average number of candidates run per school board seat in 2020. The state saw 45 candidates run for eight seats for an average of 5.63 candidates per seat. Wisconsin saw the lowest average number of candidates run per seat. Nineteen candidates ran for 14 seats in that state for an average of 1.36 candidates per seat.

    When looking at unopposed seats, Utah took the lead with 73.91% of school board seats seeing only one candidate run. Eight states—Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, and New York—had no unopposed seats in 2020.

    The map and table below detail the candidates per seat and percent of unopposed seats in each state in 2020. Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in the states shown in gray.


    Opposition in the 2020 school board elections
    State School districts holding elections Seats up for election Candidates who ran for election Candidates per seat Percent of seats that were unopposed
    Alabama 2 3 7 2.33 0.00%
    Alaska 1 2 5 2.50 0.00%
    Arizona 42 121 171 1.41 42.98%
    Arkansas 1 9 19 1.41 33.33%
    California 94 245 514 2.10 25.71%
    Florida 24 65 163 2.51 27.69%
    Georgia 10 36 73 2.03 38.89%
    Idaho 1 2 3 1.50 0.00%
    Indiana 13 41 79 1.93 29.27%
    Kentucky 2 6 10 1.67 50.00%
    Louisiana 2 9 24 2.67 11.11%
    Maryland 6 21 68 3.24 14.29%
    Michigan 3 10 35 3.50 0.00%
    Minnesota 2 5 17 3.40 20.00%
    Mississippi 1 1 3 3.00 0.00%
    Missouri 9 26 40 1.54 50.00%
    Nebraska 7 22 36 1.64 36.36%
    Nevada 2 8 45 5.63 0.00%
    New Jersey 2 6 12 2.00 0.00%
    New York 1 2 3 1.50 0.00%
    North Carolina 6 31 65 2.10 25.81%
    Oklahoma 26 30 46 1.53 63.33%
    South Carolina 4 22 55 2.50 18.18%
    Tennessee 7 33 65 1.97 39.39%
    Texas 73 212 355 1.67 47.17%
    Utah 7 23 36 1.57 73.91%
    Virginia 4 20 39 1.95 15.00%
    Wisconsin 6 14 19 1.36 64.29%

    By enrollment

    When looking at school districts by enrollment, larger districts saw a higher average number of candidates per seat compared to smaller districts. In school districts with a student enrollment above 100,001, the average number of candidates per seat was 2.99, which was the highest out of 13 enrollment sizes. All districts with enrollments above 50,001 students saw an average of more than two candidates per seat. The smallest average was 1.29 candidates per seat in school districts with enrollments below 1,000. The chart below details the candidates per seat in the 2020 school board elections by enrollment size.

    Incumbents

    A total of 755 school board incumbents ran for re-election in 2020, and 617 were elected to new terms, a win rate of 81.72%. Nine states—Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin—saw all school board incumbents who ran for re-election win, while one state—Mississippi—saw all of the incumbents who ran lose their re-election bids. The state of Arkansas had no incumbents run for re-election.

    The map below shows the incumbent win rates by state for the 2020 school board elections. Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in the states shown in gray.

    Overall, 73.66% of incumbents whose terms were up for re-election in 2020 ran for new terms. Incumbents won 60.20% of the school board seats up for election. The table below lists incumbent details for each state that held school board elections in 2020.

    Incumbents in the 2020 school board elections
    State School districts holding elections Seats up for election Incumbents who ran for re-election Percent of incumbents who ran for re-election Seats won by incumbents Incumbent win rate Percent of seats won by incumbents
    Alabama 2 3 2 66.67% 2 100.00% 66.67%
    Alaska 1 2 2 100.00% 2 100.00% 100.00%
    Arizona 42 121 73 60.33% 63 86.30% 52.07%
    Arkansas 1 9 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0.00%
    California 94 245 187 76.33% 152 81.28% 62.04%
    Florida 24 65 47 72.31% 36 76.60% 55.38%
    Georgia 10 36 29 80.56% 25 86.21% 69.44%
    Idaho 1 2 2 100.00% 2 100.00% 100.00%
    Indiana 13 41 30 73.17% 24 80.00% 58.54%
    Kentucky 2 6 3 50.00% 3 100.00% 50.00%
    Louisiana 2 9 7 77.78% 4 57.14% 44.44%
    Maryland 6 21 12 57.14% 7 58.33% 33.33%
    Michigan 3 10 6 60.00% 5 83.33% 50.00%
    Minnesota 2 5 4 80.00% 3 75.00% 60.00%
    Mississippi 1 1 1 100.00% 0 0.00% 0.00%
    Missouri 9 26 19 73.08% 15 78.95% 57.69%
    Nebraska 7 22 15 68.18% 15 100.00% 68.18%
    Nevada 2 8 2 25.00% 2 100.00% 25.00%
    New Jersey 2 6 5 83.33% 5 100.00% 83.33%
    New York 1 2 2 100.00% 2 100.00% 100.00%
    North Carolina 6 31 26 83.87% 21 80.77% 67.74%
    Oklahoma 26 30 22 73.33% 20 90.91% 66.67%
    South Carolina 4 22 17 77.27% 9 52.94% 40.91%
    Tennessee 7 33 28 84.85% 23 82.14% 69.70%
    Texas 73 212 167 78.77% 135 80.84% 63.68%
    Utah 7 23 19 82.61% 16 84.21% 69.57%
    Virginia 4 20 16 80.00% 14 87.50% 70.00%
    Wisconsin 6 14 12 85.71% 12 100.00% 85.71%

    Non-incumbents

    A total of 1,252 of the 2,007 candidates who ran in the 2020 school board elections were non-incumbents. They won 399 school board seats, 38.93% of the seats up for election. Two states—Arkansas and Mississippi—saw all seats up for election go to non-incumbents, while three states—Alaska, Idaho, and New York—saw no non-incumbents win election.

    The map below details the percent of seats won by non-incumbents by state in the 2020 school board elections. Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in the states shown in gray.

    Non-incumbents in 2020 were guaranteed to win 270 open seats, 26.34% of all seats up for election, as no incumbents filed to run for re-election for those seats. Arkansas was the only state to have all open school board seats in 2020. Four states—Alaska, Idaho, Mississippi, New York—had no open seats. The table below details the number and percent of open seats in each state in 2020 as well as the non-incumbent win rates.

    Non-incumbents in the 2020 school board elections
    State School districts holding elections Seats up for election Open seats Percent of seats that were open Non-incumbents running for election Seats won by non-incumbents Non-incumbent win rate Percent of seats won by non-incumbents
    Alabama 2 3 1 33.33% 5 1 20.00% 33.33%
    Alaska 1 2 0 0.00% 3 0 0.00% 0.00%
    Arizona 42 121 48 39.67% 98 54 55.10% 44.63%
    Arkansas 1 9 9 100.00% 19 9 47.37% 100.00%
    California 94 245 58 23.67% 327 92 28.13% 37.55%
    Florida 24 65 18 27.69% 116 29 25.00% 44.62%
    Georgia 10 36 7 19.44% 44 11 25.00% 30.56%
    Idaho 1 2 0 0.00% 1 0 0.00% 0.00%
    Indiana 13 41 11 26.83% 49 15 30.61% 36.59%
    Kentucky 2 6 3 50.00% 7 3 42.86% 50.00%
    Louisiana 2 9 2 22.22% 17 5 29.41% 55.56%
    Maryland 6 21 9 42.86% 56 14 25.00% 66.67%
    Michigan 3 10 4 40.00% 29 5 17.24% 50.00%
    Minnesota 2 5 1 20.00% 13 2 15.38% 40.00%
    Mississippi 1 1 0 0.00% 2 1 50.00% 100.00%
    Missouri 9 26 7 26.92% 21 11 52.38% 42.31%
    Nebraska 7 22 7 31.82% 21 7 33.33% 31.82%
    Nevada 2 8 6 75.00% 43 6 13.95% 75.00%
    New Jersey 2 6 1 16.67% 7 1 14.29% 16.67%
    New York 1 2 0 0.00% 1 0 0.00% 0.00%
    North Carolina 6 31 5 16.13% 39 10 25.64% 32.26%
    Oklahoma 26 30 8 26.67% 24 8 33.33% 26.67%
    South Carolina 4 22 5 22.73% 38 13 34.21% 59.09%
    Tennessee 7 33 5 15.15% 37 10 27.03% 30.30%
    Texas 73 212 45 21.23% 188 77 40.96% 36.32%
    Utah 7 23 4 17.39% 17 7 41.18% 30.43%
    Virginia 4 20 4 20.00% 23 6 26.09% 30.00%
    Wisconsin 6 14 2 14.29% 7 2 28.57% 14.29%

    Methodology

    This report includes school board elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2020. A total of 467 school districts were in Ballotpedia's coverage scope in 2020. This includes all school districts in the 100 largest cities by population and the 200 largest school districts by student enrollment. Although Ballotpedia covers all school board recalls in the United States, recall elections are not included in this report.

    In 2020, Ballotpedia covered school board elections in 28 states. Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in the following 22 states:

    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Hawaii
    • Illinois
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Maine
    • Massachusetts
    • Montana
    • New Hampshire
    • New Mexico
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Rhode Island
    • South Dakota
    • Vermont
    • Washington
    • West Virginia
    • Wyoming

    This report looks at overall numbers from the 2020 school board elections related to method of elections, opposition, incumbents, and non-incumbents. Below is a list of definitions of terms used in this report:

    • District/School district: School districts within Ballotpedia's coverage scope that held elections in 2020.
    • Seats: The seats that were up for election in the school districts within Ballotpedia's coverage scope in 2020. If an election was canceled, the seats were still counted.
    • Candidates: Individuals who completed the regular filing process required for school board elections in their state and did not withdraw or get disqualified before the election was held. Individuals were counted as candidates if they ran for part of a race, such as a primary, before withdrawing in a later stage, such as a general election. Write-in candidates who were not incumbents were not counted as candidates due to the extreme variation in election filing laws across states.
    • Incumbents: School board members who ran for re-election to a seat within the same board. Ballotpedia counts incumbents by chamber, so if a school board member ran for a different seat on the board than the one they were holding as of the election date, they were still counted as an incumbent. If an incumbent ran as a write-in candidate, they were counted toward the candidate total and the incumbent total. Three incumbent write-in candidates were counted in this report. Two lost their bids for re-election, and one won another term.
    • Non-incumbents: Candidates who were not members of the school board they were running to represent at the time of the election.
    • Open seats: Seats in which an incumbent did not run for re-election, which guaranteed the seat would be won by a non-incumbent.
    • Unopposed seats: Seats that had only one candidate in all stages of an election. If a candidate faced opposition in a primary and went on to a general election where they did not face opposition, the seat was not counted as unopposed. If a candidate faced opposition only from non-incumbent write-in candidates, the seat was counted as unopposed.
    • Election/Race stages: Stages required to complete an election, including: primary, primary runoff, general, and general runoff.

    See also

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