Stamford Public Schools elections (2017)
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Three of nine seats on the Stamford Public Schools Board of Education in Connecticut were up for at-large election on November 7, 2017. Three Democratic incumbents were re-elected: Andy George, Jackie Heftman, and Betsy Allyn. They defeated Republican Town Committee candidate Dan Mena, Green Party candidate Jaclyn Pioli, and petitioning candidate Theresa Robbins.[1][2][3][4]
While Andy George was an incumbent, he filed for Geoff Alswanger's open seat after changing party affiliations. George previously ran in the 2015 election as a Republican candidate.[5]
As a petitioning candidate, Robbins ran without a party endorsement. Candidates Anne Sessa and Alison Toushes were also nominated by the Republican Town Committee, but their names did not appear on the ballot.[4]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Stamford Public Schools Board of Education is composed of nine partisan members who are elected at large to three-year terms. Three seats were up for election on November 7, 2017.
There were several routes by which candidates could get on the ballot, which varied depending on the political affiliation of the candidate seeking office.
Convention nomination
The first way major party candidates could get onto the ballot was to receive the nomination of their political party during the endorsement period. These endorsements were made by convention of the local party members, and the candidates had to receive at least 15 percent of the votes cast by convention delegates to be nominated.[6] Major party endorsements were certified on July 26, 2017.[7]
Minor parties that were qualified for the board races were also able to endorse candidates.[8] The deadline for minor parties to endorse candidates was September 6, 2017.
Primary petition
If a candidate who wished to run for a major political party did not receive the party's endorsement, he or she was required to file a primary petition to oppose the endorsed candidate. In order for a primary election to be held, the petitioner was required to submit valid signatures totaling 1 percent of the votes cast for the same office at the previous election for that office or 7,500, whichever was smaller.[9][10]
Multiple candidates of a political party could petition for a primary together. Only as many petitioning candidates could advance for each party as there were seats up for election in the general election.[11][12] The deadline for submitting primary petitions was August 9, 2017.[7]
Independent petition
Candidates who wished to run without a party affiliation had to file in a similar manner to candidates with a partisan affiliation. Such independent candidates, however, could not file in groups like partisan petitioners and had to file individually. They had to meet the same signature requirements as partisan petitioning candidates but without the possibility of a primary election.[13] The deadline for submitting independent nominating petitions was August 9, 2017.[7]
Write-in candidates
Write-in candidates could not designate an affiliation with a political party, and no candidate who was nominated by a major or minor party or by petition could run as a write-in candidate.[14] The deadline for registering as a write-in candidate was October 24, 2017.[7]
As of the 2017 election, state law required a minimum of one-third of the board's seats to be held by minority parties following each election.[15] A maximum of six seats on the Stamford Public Schools Board of Education could be held by members of the same political party. Stamford's city charter stated that parties could nominate three candidates per election, but only a bare majority of candidates from the same party could hold seats on the board. If the highest vote-getters gave one political party more than six seats on the board, only the number of candidates from the political party that would keep the majority to six or less would be declared elected. The remaining seats would go to the next-highest vote receivers from a different party.[16]
To cast a ballot in this election, citizens had to register to vote by October 31, 2017.[17] For information on the voter identification requirements in Connecticut, please click here.
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| Stamford Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Jackie Heftman Incumbent |
25.53% | 10,954 | |
| Democratic | Andy George Incumbent |
25.48% | 10,935 | |
| Democratic | Betsy Allyn Incumbent |
24.81% | 10,645 | |
| Republican | Dan Mena | 16.20% | 6,953 | |
| Green | Jaclyn Pioli | 4.87% | 2,090 | |
| Nonpartisan | Theresa Robbins | 3.11% | 1,335 | |
| Total Votes | 42,912 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Election Center: 2017 November Municipal Election," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Candidates
 Andy George 
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Jackie Heftman
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Betsy Allyn
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 Dan Mena
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 Jaclyn Pioli
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Theresa Robbins | |||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Connecticut elections, 2017
The Stamford Public Schools Board of Education was scheduled to share the ballot with the Stamford mayor, town and city clerk, registrar of voters, city constables, board of representatives, and board of finance.[16]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for this Connecticut school board election in 2017:[17]
Endorsements
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
All candidates had to register with the town clerk in charge of their election within 10 days of becoming a candidate. At that time, candidates had to declare their campaign funding source. They could choose to be funded by one of three types of committees: a single candidate committee, a political slate committee, or a town committee.[18]
Single candidate committees are formed to fund the candidate's campaign in only one election. The Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission states that this is the most common type of committee formed. Political slate committees are formed for a particular election and must be the source of funding for two or more candidates. An exception to the multiple-candidate rule is when only one candidate on the slate advances past the primary election, leaving a single candidate in the slate. Town committees are established by political parties to fund multiple candidates over multiple election cycles. Like political slate committees, town committees must fund two or more candidates, unless only one candidate makes it past the primary election.[18][19]
Candidates may be exempt from registering under a committee if they plan to only use personal funds to finance their campaign, do not expect to spend or receive more than $1,000, or do not expect to spend or receive any funds. If any of these conditions change, candidates had three days to update their registration.[18][19]
Candidates who participated in the general election had different filing deadlines than candidates who participated in the primary election.[20]
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Past elections
To see results from past elections in Stamford Public Schools, click here.
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Candidate survey
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About the district
- See also: Stamford Public Schools, Connecticut
Stamford Public Schools is located in southwestern Connecticut in Fairfield County. The county does not have a county seat. The county was home to an estimated 944,177 residents from 2010 to 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[21] The district was the fifth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 15,990 students.[22]
Demographics
Fairfield County overperformed in comparison to the rest of Connecticut in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2016. The United States Census Bureau found that 45.8 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 37.6 percent of state residents. The median household income in Fairfield County was $84,233, while it was $70,331 for Connecticut. The county poverty rate was 9.0 percent, compared to the state's 9.8 percent.[21]
| Racial Demographics, 2010-2016[21] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Fairfield County (%) | Connecticut (%) |
| White | 79.2 | 80.6 |
| Black or African American | 12.5 | 11.8 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Asian | 5.7 | 4.7 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 19.4 | 15.7 |
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 Stamford Public Schools Connecticut election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Stamford Public Schools | Connecticut | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Stamford Democratic City Committee, "Introducing....Our 2017 Endorsed Municipal Candidates," July 29, 2017
- ↑ Stamford Avocate, "Stamford RTC endorses down-ballot candidates," July 21, 2017
- ↑ Green Party of Connecticut, "2017 Candidates," accessed August 31, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Connecticut Secretary of State, "Stamford Sample Ballot," accessed October 20, 2017
- ↑ Stamford Advocate, "Voters faced with new names or status quo on Board of Ed," November 6, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-400," accessed October 15, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 The Secretary of the State of Connecticut, "November 7, 2017 Election Calendar Revised," accessed October 15, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-451," accessed October 15, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-405," accessed October 15, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-453d," accessed October 15, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-404b," accessed October 15, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-414," accessed October 15, 2017
- ↑ "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-453b," accessed October 15, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part I, Section 9-373a," accessed October 15, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut General Assembly, "Chapter 146: Sec. 9-167a. Minority representation," accessed September 18, 2017
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Stamford, Connecticut, "Stamford Connecticut Code of Ordinances," accessed September 25, 2017
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Office of the Secretary of the State, "November 7, 2017 Municipal Election Calendar," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "Understanding the Connecticut Campaign Finance Laws: A Guide for Municipal Candidates," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "2017 Municipal Election Campaign Overview," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "2017 Filing Calendar," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 United States Census Bureau, "Fairfield County, Connecticut," accessed September 21, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Stamford Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Fairfield County, Connecticut | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Andy George • Incumbent, Jackie Heftman • Betsy Allyn • Dan Mena • Jaclyn Pioli • Theresa Robbins • Anne Sessa • Alison Toushes |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
