Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Sonya Mays
Sonya Mays was an at-large member of the Detroit Public Schools Community District in Michigan. Mays assumed office in 2017. Mays left office on December 31, 2024.
Mays ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Detroit Public Schools Community District in Michigan. Mays won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Mays won the seat in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016. She ran as part of the A+ Team slate.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Detroit Public Schools Community District, Michigan, elections (2020)
General election
General election for Detroit Public Schools Community District, At-large (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Detroit Public Schools Community District, At-large on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sonya Mays (Nonpartisan) | 14.7 | 69,144 |
| ✔ |  | Misha Stallworth (Nonpartisan) | 14.0 | 66,132 |
| ✔ |  | Sherry Gay-Dagnogo (Nonpartisan) | 11.3 | 53,344 |
 | Iris Taylor (Nonpartisan) | 10.9 | 51,388 | |
 | LaMar Lemmons (Nonpartisan) | 8.3 | 39,400 | |
| Bessie Harris (Nonpartisan) | 8.0 | 37,649 | ||
 | Ida Carol Short (Nonpartisan) | 6.6 | 30,982 | |
| Jermain Jones (Nonpartisan) | 4.8 | 22,669 | ||
 | Elena Herrada (Nonpartisan) | 4.3 | 20,258 | |
| Zsa Zsa Hubbard (Nonpartisan) | 4.1 | 19,493 | ||
| John Telford (Nonpartisan) | 3.3 | 15,691 | ||
 | Richard Clement (Nonpartisan)  | 3.3 | 15,640 | |
| Terrance Lemmons (Nonpartisan) | 3.2 | 15,305 | ||
| Chico Frank Sorrell (Nonpartisan) | 2.4 | 11,292 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 3,471 | ||
| Total votes: 471,858 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
- See also: Detroit Public Schools elections (2016)
Seven seats on the Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education were up for general election on November 8, 2016. There was no primary. A total of 63 candidates filed for the election including 10 of the 11 incumbent board members. The top two vote recipients will serve six-year terms, the next three winners will serve four-year terms, and the remaining two winners will serve two-year terms.[2][3] The winning candidates were Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry, LaMar Lemmons, Georgia Lemmons, Sonya Mays, Misha Stallworth, Deborah Hunter-Harvill, and Iris Taylor.
A June 2016 state reorganization bill split Detroit Public Schools into two entities. The existing district will collect taxes to pay down debts, while a new district overseen by the school board was created to oversee school operations. This bill reduced the school board's membership from 11 to seven after the November 2016 election. The state-appointed Detroit Financial Review Commission will oversee the new district's financial dealings.[2]
Results
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[4]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[5]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $164,533.68 and spent a total of $100,234.02 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Wayne County Clerk.[6] Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry led the field with $57,980.00 in contributions and $40,364.82 in expenditures for the reporting period. Her biggest donor through October 28, 2016, was the United Auto Workers Michigan V-PAC, which contributed $27,500.00 to her candidate committee. Sixteen of the 63 candidates filed campaign finance statements by October 30, 2016. The remaining candidates had not filed their reports or qualified for exemption from reporting.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tawanna Simpson | $1,200.00 | $996.38 | $203.62 |
| Ida Carol Short | $1,409.15 | $975.00 | $434.15 |
| Herman Davis | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry | $57,980.00 | $40,346.82 | $17,633.18 |
| Kevin Turman | $5,038.99 | $3,555.84 | $1,483.15 |
| Deborah Hunter-Harvill | $3,950.00 | $4,387.83 | -$577.83 |
| John Telford | $19,000.00 | $5,341.52 | $13,658.51 |
| Markita Meeks | $100.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 |
| Mary Kovari | $14,383.54 | $16,883.54 | $4,315.86 |
| Ben Washburn | $500.00 | $0.00 | $500.00 |
| Iris Taylor | $10,725.00 | $6,311.16 | $4,413.84 |
| Sonya Mays | $20,935.00 | $15,450.49 | $0.00 |
| Charmaine Johnson | $0.00 | $1,939.68 | $0.00 |
| Phillip Caldwell II | $2,915.00 | $2,713.37 | $201.67 |
| Leslie Andrews | $16,114.00 | $0.00 | $6,500.00 |
| Penny Bailer | $10,283.00 | $1,307.39 | $8,975.61 |
Endorsements
Mays' campaign website listed the following endorsements:[7]
- Detroit Regional Chamber PAC
- 13th Congressional District Democrats
- 14th Congressional District Democrats
- Detroit Police Lieutenants and Sergeants Association
- Detroit City Councilman Scott Benson
- Detroit City Councilman Andre Spivey
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sonya Mays did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Mays' campaign website listed the following themes:
| “ |
Growing up in Northwest Detroit, as the daughter of a 30-year Detroit Public School (DPS) teacher, I was raised during a time when the city was thriving, good jobs were abundant, and DPS provided not just a safe environment in which to learn, but also a quality education. Because of the quality education I received in DPS, I was able to go on to earn three degrees from the University of Michigan, to become an attorney, to work on Wall Street as a finance professional, and most recently, to create a community- based real estate investment company here in Detroit. I left DPS with the confidence and skills required to navigate this world. As was the case for generations that preceded my own graduation - the DPS in which I was educated worked. Now, Detroit is home to some of the worst-performing, unsafe schools in the state, if not the country. Our kids and our community deserve better. It is imperative that we restore the pride, safety and effectiveness to our local schools. Lives are at stake and our community can not tolerate anything but the most solidly qualified, trusted and proven candidates to advocate for our children. We can not afford to let another child fall through the cracks with endless, unproven social and academic experiments. My entire career has been about building the skills and credibility to fight for those in our communities with the least - those who need the most. My professional career began here in Detroit as a substitute teacher at DPS’ Peter Vetal Middle School. I later spent time working for a health advocacy-focused non profit, before taking a job on Wall Street in order to learn high-level financial management. Three years ago, I returned home to work on the Detroit bankruptcy – a difficult and deeply personal choice, but in my mind, a necessary one knowing that if I did not step up, there would not be a “Detroit” voice among the decision-makers. Toward the end of the bankruptcy, I became openly frustrated with the contrast between our booming central business district and the rest of our city, so I led the creation of a nonprofit real estate company – Develop Detroit – that is entirely focused on building opportunities across Detroit for all Detroiters. I have a track record of fighting for hard-won change and I have the drive to see the new DPS Community District become what we all know it can be - a safe environment, where children are partnered with quality teachers who have the energy, talent and resources necessary to provide a good education. If elected, I will work to bring change to our schools. I will lead and tirelessly advocate for a safe, effective, high-performing education system for our community and our children. I will be the change our children deserve. [8] |
” |
| —Sonya Mays (2016), [9] | ||
See also
2020 Elections
External links
|
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ The Detroit News, "Jacques: Is this the dream team for DPS board?" September 9, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wayne County, Michigan, "Elections Division-Election Information," accessed August 30, 2016 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "list" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ The Detroit Free Press, "72 people seek seven Detroit school board seats," July 26, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Wayne County Clerk, "Wayne County Campaign Finance Information System," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Sonya for Schools, "Endorsements," accessed September 21, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Sonya for Schools, "Candidate statement," accessed September 21, 2016
