Vancouver Public Schools elections (2013)

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2013 Vancouver School District 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
Washington Vancouver School District

Two seats were up for election on the Vancouver Board of Directors on November 5, 2013. Seats in Positions 2 and 3 were on the ballot. Mark Stoker ran unopposed and won the Position 2 seat while Kathy Gillespie overcame Lisa Phifer Ross for the Position 3 seat.

About the district

See also: Vancouver Public Schools, Washington

Vancouver Public Schools is located in Clark County, Washington

Vancouver is the county seat of Clark County, which is situated along the Columbia River in southwestern Washington. Vancouver's population was 161,791 according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

Demographics

Vancouver lags behind the rest of Washington based on median income, poverty levels and higher education achievement. The 2010 U.S. Census found the median income in Vancouver was $50,387 while the state median income was $58,890. The city's poverty rate was 15.5% compared to the state's 12.5% poverty rate. The percentage of city residents over 25 years old with undergraduate degrees (23.5%) was lower than the state average (31.4%).

Racial Demographics, 2012
Race	Vancouver (%)	Washington (%)
White	80.9	77.3
Black or African American	2.9	3.6
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.0	1.5
Asian	5.0	7.2
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	1.0	0.6
Two or More Races	4.8	4.7
Hispanic or Latino	10.4	11.2

Presidential Voting Pattern
Year	Democratic Vote (%)	Republican Vote (%)
2012	57.1	42.1
2008	51.9	46.8
2004	46.7	52.0
2000	45.6	49.6

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 Vancouver Board of Directors consists of five members elected to four-year terms. There was no primary election in 2013 because there were two or fewer candidates for each open seat and a general election took place November 5, 2013. Seats in Positions 2 and 3 were on the ballot on November 5, 2013.

Elections in Washington require candidates to pay filing fees equal to 1% of a position's annual salary. Board members in Vancouver can be reimbursed up to $4,800 for district activities but do not receive salaries, which eliminates the filing fee. Candidates were required to file nominating petitions by May 17, 2013 to qualify for the November ballot. Each candidate could also submit a photo and statement of 100 words or less by May 23, 2013 for the county's local voter pamphlet.

Position 2

• Mark Stoker
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, University of Washington and Lewis and Clark Law School
  • Attorney

Position 3

• Kathy Gillespie
  • Incumbent
• Lisa Phifer Ross
  • Graduate, University of Alabama and Western Governors University
  • Accountant, Columbia River Mental Health Services

Results

Vancouver Board of Directors, Position 2, Four-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Mark Stoker Incumbent	100%	19,226
Total Votes				19,226
Source: Clark County Auditor's Office, "November 5, 2013 General Election," November 26, 2013

Vancouver Board of Directors, Position 3, Four-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Kathy Gillespie Incumbent	53%	11,974
	Nonpartisan	Lisa Phifer Ross	47%	10,622
Total Votes				22,596
Source: Clark County Auditor's Office, "November 5, 2013 General Election," November 26, 2013

Endorsements

The Columbian endorsed Kathy Gillespie on October 16, 2013.

Campaign finance

No contributions or expenditures were reported during the election, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission.

Past elections

2011

Vancouver Board of Directors, Position 1, November 8, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Dale Q. Rice Incumbent	65.3%	18,374
	Nonpartisan	Robert Travis	33.7%	9,468
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	1%	282
Total Votes				28,124
Source: Clark County Auditor's Office, "2011 General Election Results," November 29, 2011

Vancouver Board of Directors, Position 4, November 8, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Edri Geiger Incumbent	51.2%	14,563
	Nonpartisan	Tom Kemp	48.1%	13,681
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.8%	215
Total Votes				28,459
Source: Clark County Auditor's Office, "2011 General Election Results," November 29, 2011

Vancouver Board of Directors, Position 5, November 8, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Mari Greves Incumbent	97.8%	25,093
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	2.2%	566
Total Votes				25,659
Source: Clark County Auditor's Office, "2011 General Election Results," November 29, 2011

What was at stake?

Incumbent Mark Stoker won re-election to the Position 2 seat without opposition. Kathy Gillespie ran successfully for a second term on the board against challenger Lisa Phifer Ross.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Vancouver School District election:

Deadline	Event
May 17, 2013	Last day to file nominating petitions
May 23, 2013	Last day to submit candidate materials for voter pamphlet
August 6, 2013	Primary day
November 5, 2013	Election day
November 26, 2013	Certification of vote results

Additional elections on the ballot

The Vancouver Board of Directors elections shared the ballot with other local, county and state measures. Residents of Vancouver voted in races for Mayor, three seats on the City Council and a seat on the Vancouver Port Commission. Voters selected 15 members of the Clark County Commission and a seat on the Clark Superior Court. The ballot also featured two statewide initiatives, five statewide advisory votes and six county advisory votes.

See also

• Washington
• Vancouver School District, Washington
• Clark County, Washington ballot measures
• Financial policies, education standards at stake in November school board elections
• School board election wrap-up: Incumbents re-elected overwhelmingly in November 5 elections
• School board elections review: Voters opt for experience over new blood in nation's largest school districts

External links

Suggest a link

• District page
• Clark County Auditor's Office