Tracy Suits
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Tracy Suits is the Region 5 representative on the Central Bucks School District school board in Pennsylvania. Suits won a first term in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.
Pennsylvania permits school board candidates to cross-file in primary elections. This means that a candidate may file to run in the primary election for both the Democratic and Republican parties. A cross-filed candidate can advance to the general election by winning one or both of the partisan primaries. This maximizes a candidate’s chances of advancing to the general as they have two ways to win in the primary round. If the candidate wins only one of the primaries, they face the winner of the other primary in the general election. Cross-filers who win both primaries may still face independent candidates in the general election.[1]
Elections
2017
Four seats on the Central Bucks School District school board were up for by-district general election on November 7, 2017. A partisan primary election was held on May 16, 2017. All candidates in this race cross-filed to appear on both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots and went on to win the general election with no opposition.[2]
In the open Region 4 seat, newcomer Nicole Young ran unopposed in the primary and advanced to the general. Two candidates filed for the open Region 5 seat: Janelle Kerns and Tracy Suits. Suits won both the Democratic and Republican nominations and moved on to the general. Region 7 incumbent Meg Evans filed for the seat and faced challengers Rob Dugger, Philip Mironov, and Jodi Schwartz. Schwartz won both parties' nominations and advanced to the general. In his bid for re-election to Region 9, board incumbent John Gamble filed for the seat and ran unopposed in the primary, moving on to the general.[3][4]
These candidates could have faced independent candidates in the general election. However, no independent candidate filed by the August 1, 2017, deadline to get on the ballot.[5]
Results
| Central Bucks School District, Region 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic/Republican |  Tracy Suits (unopposed) |
100.00% | 2,562 | |
| Total Votes | 2,562 | |||
| Source: Bucks County Election Results, "Municipal Election Tuesday, November 07, 2017," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Democratic primary results
| Central Bucks School District, Region 5 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Tracy Suits |
72.94% | 372 | |
| Democratic | Janelle Kerns | 27.06% | 138 | |
| Total Votes | 510 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed June 19, 2017 | ||||
Republican primary results
| Central Bucks School District, Region 5 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Tracy Suits |
52.40% | 306 | |
| Republican | Janelle Kerns | 47.60% | 278 | |
| Total Votes | 584 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed June 19, 2017 | ||||
Funding
Ballotpedia was unable to obtain campaign finance reports submitted by candidates in this race. The Bucks County Board of Elections does not release campaign finance reports electronically and requires a fee to release hard copies.[6]
| 2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Pennsylvania[7] | |
|---|---|
| Date | Deadline |
| May 5, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Primary report due |
| June 15, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Primary report due |
| October 27, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Election report due |
| December 7, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Election report due |
School board candidates in Pennsylvania were required to report their campaign finance activity. Those who spent or received more than $250 in a reporting period had to file full reports. Those below the threshold had to file forms to declare they were exempt from reporting. Candidates could have, but were not required to, form committees to handle campaign finance transactions. They were not required to have separate bank accounts for campaign purposes.[8]
The table to the left details the four campaign finance deadlines in 2017.[7]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Pennsylvania School Boards Association, "How to Run for School Board," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ Bucks County Election Results, "Municpal Election Tuesday, November 07, 2017," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Bucks County, "Unofficial Candidate List," accessed April 7, 2017
- ↑ Bucks County, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed May 16, 2017
- ↑ Bucks County, "Candidate List Municipal Election, November 7, 2017," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Thomas Freitag, Bucks County Election Coordinator," June 20, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed April 19, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Campaign Finance Reporting Law," accessed January 15, 2014
| Central Bucks School District elections in 2017 | |
| Bucks County, Pennsylvania | |
| Election date: | Primary: May 16, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Region 4: Nicole Young (D)(R) Region 5: Janelle Kerns (D)(R) • Tracy Suits (D)(R) |
| Important information: | What's at stake? |
