Stamford Public Schools elections (2013)

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2013 Stamford Public Schools Elections
General Election date:
November 5, 2013
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links References
See also
Connecticut Stamford Public Schools

Three seats on the Stamford Board of Education were up for election on November 5, 2013. Six candidates sought election to the board. Geoff Alswanger, Richard Lyons II and John Leydon Jr. defeated Dolores Burgess, Nicola Tarzia and Richard Duffee to win three at-large seats.

A debate developed within the district over solutions to overcrowded schools and aging facilities.

About the district

See also: Stamford Public Schools, Connecticut

Stamford Public Schools is located in Fairfield County in southwestern Connecticut. The population of Stamford was 122,643 according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

Demographics

Stamford outperformed the rest of Connecticut based on median income and poverty levels but lags behind in higher education achievement in 2010. The 2010 U.S. Census found the median income in Stamford was $78,201 while the state median income was $69,243. The city's poverty rate was 11% compared to the state's 9.5% poverty rate. The percentage of city residents over 25 years old with undergraduate degrees (43.9%) was higher than the state average (35.7%).

Racial Demographics, 2010
Race	Stamford (%)	Connecticut (%)
White	65	77.6
Black or African American	13.9	10.1
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.3	0.3
Asian	7.9	3.8
Two or More Races	3.2	2.6
Hispanic or Latino	23.8	13.4

Presidential Voting Pattern
Year	Democratic Vote (%)	Republican Vote (%)
2012	62.3	36.8
2008	64.1	35.3
2004	58.6	40.1
2000	62	34.3

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.

Method of board member selection

The Stamford Board of Education consists of nine members who are elected at-large to three-year terms. The Democratic and Republican Town Committees in Stamford endorsed candidates in July 2013 for the board elections. Three seats are up for election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday each November.

State law requires a minimum of three seats to be held by minority parties following each election. The composition of the board heading into the November 2013 election was six Democrats and three Republicans. On November 5, 2013, voters were able to choose any three candidates on the ballot regardless of party. The three candidates who received the most votes won election to the board.

Elections

2013

Candidates

The candidates on the November 5, 2013 ballot were:

Geoff Alswanger

• Incumbent
• Graduate, University of Pennsylvania
• Camp director, Long Drive Camp

Richard Lyons II

• Incumbent

Dolores Burgess

• Retired educator

John Leydon Jr.

• Incumbent
• Real estate attorney

Nicola Tarzia

• Owner, The Tanzia Group

Richard Duffee

• Graduate, University of Chicago and Pace University
• Lawyer

Election results

Stamford Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Geoff Alswanger Incumbent	22.5%	11,311
	Democratic	Richard Lyons II Incumbent	20.9%	10,500
	Republican	John Leydon Jr. Incumbent	19.7%	9,906
	Democratic	Dolores Burgess	18.4%	9,238
	Democratic	Nicola Tarzia	16.5%	8,314
	Green	Richard Duffee	2%	994
Total Votes				50,263
Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Municipal Elections - November 5, 2013," accessed December 17, 2013

Forums

The Parent-Teacher Council hosted a candidate forum at the Stamford Government Center on October 2, 2013. All candidates except [[Richard Duffee] were in attendance and gave their thoughts on district approaches to bullying, dress codes and portable classrooms. The candidates largely supported the district's efforts to deal with bullying though John Leydon Jr. believed that more could be done to deal with bullying and harassment. Nicola Tarzia was vocal in his support for school uniforms throughout the district to improve the school environment and generate revenue. Leydon, Lyons and Dolores Burgess did not place school uniforms as a priority while Geoff Alswanger noted that the district already has policies about appropriate school attire. The candidates agreed on the use of portable classrooms in the short term to ease overcrowding at district schools.

Endorsements

The Stamford Advocate endorsed Geoff Alswanger, John Leydon Jr. and Richard Lyons II on October 31, 2013.

Campaign finance

No contributions or expenditures were reported during the election, according to the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2012 Stamford Board of Education, At-Large, General Election, 4-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Polly Rauh 22.2% 23,087      Democratic Dolores Burgess 21.6% 22,465      Republican Jerry Pia 18.1% 18,814      Republican Lorraine Olson 16.5% 17,118      Republican Jon Hoch 15.6% 16,173      Green Michael Schmidt 4% 4,185      Green Cora Santaguida 2.1% 2,139 Total Votes 103,981 Source: Stamford Patch 2011 Stamford Board of Education, At-large General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Gary Klein 22.3% 8,227      Democratic Julia G. Wade 19.5% 7,205      Democratic Jackie Heftman 18.1% 6,698      Independent Karen Murphy 16.1% 5,949      Republican June Corridor 11.3% 4,163      Republican Michel Bayonne 11.5% 4,254      Green Mary T. Farrell 1.3% 470 Total Votes 36,966 Source: The Stamford Times

What was at stake?

Three seats were at stake. Incumbent Democrats Geoff Alswanger and Richard Lyons II and incumbent Republican John Leydon Jr. were on the ballot. All three won re-election to the board against Democratic challenger Dolores Burgess, Republican challenger Nicola Tarzia and Green Party challenger Richard Duffee.

Issues

The Board of Education was dealing with the issue of overcrowding that emerged due to population growth in Fairfield County and inadequate infrastructure investment. Superintendent Winifred Hamilton suggested five options for dealing with overcrowded classrooms including the use of 20 portable classrooms, renovating an office building to serve as a school and investing in a new school that would require up to 30 months of development.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Stamford Board of Education election in 2013:

Deadline	Event
July 23, 2013	Last day for political party endorsements of candidates by town caucus or convention
July 24, 2013	Nominating petitions available for primary
August 7, 2013	Last day to file nominating petitions for primary
September 10, 2013	Primary day
October 10, 2013	First campaign finance filing date following primary election
October 29, 2013	Last campaign finance filing filing date prior to general election
November 5, 2013	Election day
December 5, 2013	Certification of election results by county

Additional elections on the ballot

The Stamford Board of Education election shared the ballot with other local elections. Residents of Stamford cast ballots for mayor, seven constables, three seats on the Board of Finance and 40 seats on the Board of Representatives.

See also

• School board elections review: Voters opt for experience over new blood in nation's largest school districts
• School board election wrap-up: Incumbents re-elected overwhelmingly in November 5 elections
• Connecticut
• List of school board elections in 2013
• Stamford Public Schools, Connecticut
• Fairfield County, Connecticut ballot measures

External links

Suggest a link

• Stamford Board of Education
• City of Stamford
• Connecticut Secretary of State
• Stamford Democratic Town Committee
• Stamford Republican Town Committee