School board election data analysis, 2022

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2022 school board
election data analysis
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Elections by state

Ballotpedia covered school board elections in 372 school districts in 28 states in 2022. Those school districts had a total student enrollment of 12,278,825 students. This report dives into the 1,169 seats that were up for election in those districts, and the 2,535 candidates who ran to fill those seats.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Of the 2,535 school board candidates who ran for election in 2022, 797 were incumbents and 1,738 were non-incumbents.
  • The average number of candidates who ran per seat was 2.17, and 24.81% of seats were unopposed.
  • Of the incumbents who ran for re-election, 78.29% won new terms.
  • 2022 saw a higher average number of candidates per seat compared to both 2021 and 2020.

    • In this report you will find:

    Comparison by year

    School board elections in 2022 saw the highest average number of candidates run per seat out of three election cycles. An average of 2.17 candidates ran per seat in 2022 compared to 2.09 in 2021 and 1.96 in 2020. When looking at unopposed seats, 2022 came in the middle with 24.81% of school seats unopposed compared to 23.84% in 2021 and 35.51% in 2020.

    Elections in 2022 saw a lower percentage of incumbents run for re-election compared to 2020 but a higher percentage compared to 2021. A total of 68.18% of incumbents whose terms were up for election ran for new terms in 2022, while 64.92% ran in 2021 and 73.66% ran in 2020. This meant that elections in 2022 also had a higher percentage of open seats (31.82%) compared to 2020 (26.34%) and a lower percentage of open seats compared to 2021 (35.08%).

    Out of the three years, 2022 had the lowest incumbent win rate, 78.29% compared to 78.51% in 2021 and 81.72% in 2020. The table below details school board election data for 2020, 2021, and 2022.

    School board election data, 2020-2022
    Year States School districts Seats up for election Candidates Candidates per seat Incumbents running for re-election Open seats Incumbent win rate Unopposed seats Student enrollment
    2020 28 358 1,025 2,007 1.96 73.66% 26.34% 81.72% 35.51% 11,995,632
    2021 24 180 515 1,077 2.09 64.92% 35.08% 78.51% 23.84% 4,552,272
    2022 28 372 1,169 2,535 2.17 68.18% 31.82% 78.29% 24.81% 12,278,825


    School board elections in 2022 saw a higher percentage of seats go to incumbents compared to 2021 but a lower percentage compared to 2020. Incumbents won 53.38% of seats up for election in 2022, and non-incumbents won 46.11%. In 2021, incumbents and non-incumbents won nearly equal portions of seats, with incumbents taking 50.97% and non-incumbents taking 49.03%. In 2020, incumbents won 60.20% of seats up for election, and non-incumbents won 38.93%. Both 2022 and 2020 saw some seats go to write-in candidates or stay unfilled after the election. Elections in 2021 saw all seats won by either incumbents or non-incumbents.

    The table below details the who won school board seats up for election in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

    School board winners, 2020-2022
    Year Seats won by incumbents Seats won by non-incumbents Seats won by write-ins or that were not filled in election
    2020 60.20% 38.93% 0.88%
    2021 50.97% 49.03% 0%
    2022 53.38% 46.62% 0.51%

    Overview

    Of the 28 states with school board elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2022, California had the most seats up for election with 297. Texas had the second-most with 228 seats up for election. Three states—Alaska, Arkansas, and Mississippi—tied for the fewest seats up for election with two each, and Alabama had the second-fewest with three.

    The map below shows how many seats were up for election in school districts covered by Ballotpedia in each state in 2022. 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 2022 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.

    2022 school board election numbers
    State School districts Seats up for election Candidates Candidates per seat Incumbents Open seats Unopposed seats Student enrollment
    Total 372 1,169 2,535 2.17 797 372 290 12,278,825


    The first table below provides details about the winners of the 2022 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 2022 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 53.38% 46.62% 0.51%


    The school districts covered by Ballotpedia in 2022 had a range of student enrollments. The largest enrollments included the Los Angeles Unified School District in California with 435,958 students and Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida with 328,589 students. The smallest enrollments included the General Shafter School District in California with 190 students and the Orange Center School District in California with 275 students. The chart below shows the distribution of school districts by student enrollment size.

    Method of elections

    Partisan method of election

    Ballotpedia covered 372 school districts that held school board elections in 2022. 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 350 school districts (94.09%) used nonpartisan elections, while 22 school districts (5.91%) used partisan elections.

    The school districts that used partisan elections were located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Their 2022 student enrollments fell between 1,830 and 106,970 with a majority landing between 30,000 and 60,000 students.

    Race stage method of election

    School districts holding elections in 2022 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, 257 or 69.09%, used only general stages in the 2022 elections. One hundred (26.88%) used both primary and general stages. Eight (2.15%) used general and general runoff stages, five (1.34%) used all four stages, and two (0.54%) 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 372 school districts that held elections in 2022. 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 2022. The state saw 36 candidates run for seven seats for an average of 5.14 candidates per seat. Arkansas saw the lowest average number of candidates run per seat. Two candidates ran for two seats in that state for an average of one candidate per seat.

    When looking at unopposed seats, Arkansas took the lead with 100% of school board seats seeing only one candidate run. Nine states—Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, and North Carolina—had no unopposed seats in 2022.

    The map and table below detail the candidates per seat and percent of unopposed seats in each state in 2022. Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in the states shown in gray.

    Opposition in the 2022 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 3.00 2 3 9 0.00%
    Alaska 4.00 1 2 8 0.00%
    Arizona 1.61 42 93 150 29.03%
    Arkansas 1.00 1 2 2 100.00%
    California 1.92 98 297 570 33.00%
    Florida 2.67 24 84 224 7.14%
    Georgia 2.24 10 34 76 11.76%
    Idaho 2.60 1 5 13 0.00%
    Indiana 1.79 13 38 68 31.58%
    Kentucky 2.83 2 6 17 16.67%
    Louisiana 2.21 6 61 135 29.51%
    Maryland 3.03 8 32 97 9.38%
    Michigan 3.70 3 10 37 0.00%
    Minnesota 2.40 1 5 12 40.00%
    Mississippi 2.00 1 2 4 0.00%
    Missouri 2.71 10 21 57 0.00%
    Nebraska 2.10 7 21 44 38.10%
    Nevada 5.14 2 7 36 0.00%
    New Jersey 2.50 2 6 15 0.00%
    New York 1.38 2 8 11 62.50%
    North Carolina 2.93 8 45 132 0.00%
    Oklahoma 2.10 26 31 65 35.48%
    South Carolina 2.52 4 31 78 9.68%
    Tennessee 2.85 7 34 97 8.82%
    Texas 1.95 74 228 444 33.77%
    Utah 2.35 7 26 61 19.23%
    Virginia 2.37 4 19 45 10.53%
    Wisconsin 1.56 6 18 28 16.67%

    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 between 80,001 and 90,000, the average number of candidates per seat was 3.07, which was the highest out of 13 enrollment sizes. All districts with enrollments above 30,001 students saw an average of more than two candidates per seat, while school districts with enrollments below 30,001 all had fewer than two candidates per seat. The smallest average was 1.26 candidates per seat in school districts with enrollments below 1,000. The chart below details the candidates per seat in the 2022 school board elections by enrollment size.

    Incumbents

    A total of 797 school board incumbents ran for re-election in 2022, and 624 were elected to new terms, a win rate of 78.29%. Four states—Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi—saw all school board incumbents who ran for re-election win, while Alabama saw half of the incumbents who ran lose their re-election bids. The state of Minnesota had no incumbents run for re-election.

    The map below shows the incumbent win rates by state for the 2022 school board elections. Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in the states shown in gray.

    Overall, 68.18% of incumbents whose terms were up for re-election in 2022 ran for new terms. Incumbents won 53.38% of the school board seats up for election. The table below lists incumbent details for each state that held school board elections in 2022.

    Incumbents in the 2022 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% 1 50.00% 33.33%
    Alaska 1 2 2 100.00% 2 100.00% 100.00%
    Arizona 42 93 48 51.61% 37 77.08% 39.78%
    Arkansas 1 2 1 50.00% 1 100.00% 50.00%
    California 98 297 219 73.74% 180 82.19% 60.61%
    Florida 24 84 55 65.48% 43 78.18% 51.19%
    Georgia 10 34 21 61.76% 21 100.00% 61.76%
    Idaho 1 5 5 100.00% 4 80.00% 80.00%
    Indiana 13 38 28 73.68% 22 78.57% 57.89%
    Kentucky 2 6 6 100.00% 5 83.33% 83.33%
    Louisiana 6 61 42 68.85% 31 73.81% 50.82%
    Maryland 8 32 13 40.63% 8 61.54% 25.00%
    Michigan 3 10 7 70.00% 5 71.43% 50.00%
    Minnesota 1 5 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0.00%
    Mississippi 1 2 1 50.00% 1 100.00% 50.00%
    Missouri 10 21 10 47.62% 7 70.00% 33.33%
    Nebraska 7 21 18 85.71% 16 88.89% 76.19%
    Nevada 2 7 7 100.00% 4 57.14% 57.14%
    New Jersey 2 6 4 66.67% 3 75.00% 50.00%
    New York 2 8 5 62.50% 4 80.00% 50.00%
    North Carolina 8 45 27 60.00% 20 74.07% 44.44%
    Oklahoma 26 31 17 54.84% 16 94.12% 51.61%
    South Carolina 4 31 20 64.52% 14 70.00% 45.16%
    Tennessee 7 34 22 64.71% 15 68.18% 44.12%
    Texas 74 228 178 78.07% 133 74.72% 58.33%
    Utah 7 26 17 65.38% 14 82.35% 53.85%
    Virginia 4 19 10 52.63% 6 60.00% 31.58%
    Wisconsin 6 18 12 66.67% 11 91.67% 61.11%

    Non-incumbents

    A total of 1,738 of the 2,535 candidates who ran in the 2022 school board elections were non-incumbents. They won 545 school board seats, 46.62% of the seats up for election. One state—Minnesota—saw all seats up for election go to non-incumbents, while Alaska saw no non-incumbents win election.

    The map below details the percent of seats won by non-incumbents by state in the 2022 school board elections. Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in the states shown in gray.

    Non-incumbents in 2022 were guaranteed to win 372 open seats, 31.82% of all seats up for election, as no incumbents filed to run for re-election for those seats. Minnesota was the only state to have all open school board seats in 2022. Four states—Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, and Nevada—had no open seats. The table below details the number and percent of open seats in each state in 2022 as well as the non-incumbent win rates.

    Non-incumbents in the 2022 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% 7 2 28.57% 66.67%
    Alaska 1 2 0 0.00% 6 0 0.00% 0.00%
    Arizona 42 93 45 48.39% 102 56 54.90% 60.22%
    Arkansas 1 2 1 50.00% 1 1 100.00% 50.00%
    California 98 297 78 26.26% 351 117 33.33% 39.39%
    Florida 24 84 29 34.52% 169 41 24.26% 48.81%
    Georgia 10 34 13 38.24% 55 13 23.64% 38.24%
    Idaho 1 5 0 0.00% 8 1 12.50% 20.00%
    Indiana 13 38 10 26.32% 40 16 40.00% 42.11%
    Kentucky 2 6 0 0.00% 11 1 9.09% 16.67%
    Louisiana 6 61 19 31.15% 93 30 32.26% 49.18%
    Maryland 8 32 19 59.38% 84 24 28.57% 75.00%
    Michigan 3 10 3 30.00% 30 5 16.67% 50.00%
    Minnesota 1 5 5 100.00% 12 5 41.67% 100.00%
    Mississippi 1 2 1 50.00% 3 1 33.33% 50.00%
    Missouri 10 21 11 52.38% 47 14 29.79% 66.67%
    Nebraska 7 21 3 14.29% 26 5 19.23% 23.81%
    Nevada 2 7 0 0.00% 29 3 10.34% 42.86%
    New Jersey 2 6 2 33.33% 11 3 27.27% 50.00%
    New York 2 8 3 37.50% 6 4 66.67% 50.00%
    North Carolina 8 45 18 40.00% 105 25 23.81% 55.56%
    Oklahoma 26 31 14 45.16% 48 15 31.25% 48.39%
    South Carolina 4 31 11 35.48% 58 17 29.31% 54.84%
    Tennessee 7 34 12 35.29% 75 19 25.33% 55.88%
    Texas 74 228 50 21.93% 266 95 35.71% 41.67%
    Utah 7 26 9 34.62% 44 12 27.27% 46.15%
    Virginia 4 19 9 47.37% 35 13 37.14% 68.42%
    Wisconsin 6 18 6 33.33% 16 7 43.75% 38.89%

    Methodology

    This report includes school board elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2022. A total of 476 school districts were in Ballotpedia's coverage scope in 2022. 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 2022, 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 2022 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 2022.
    • Seats: The seats that were up for election in the school districts within Ballotpedia's coverage scope in 2022. 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 held 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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