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Waterbury Public Schools elections (2017)

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Waterbury Public Schools Elections

General election date
November 7, 2017
Enrollment (14-15)
18,784 students

Five of 10 seats on the Waterbury Public Schools Board of Education in Connecticut were up for at-large election on November 7, 2017. Four incumbents won re-election: Karen E. Harvey (D), Juanita Hernandez (D), Charles L. Stango (R), and Thomas Van Stone Sr. (R). Newcomer Melissa Serrano-Adorno (D) also won. Republican challenger Zaida Martinez lost, as did Margaret "Maggie" O'Brien, Danielle Albert, and Shakirah Howard, who were endorsed by the Independent Party.[1][2]

Elections

Voter and candidate information

Waterbury Public Schools Logo.jpg

The Waterbury Board of Education is composed of 10 partisan members who are elected at large to four-year terms in odd-numbered years. The mayor of Waterbury serves as the board chair. Five seats were up for general election on November 7, 2017.

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.[3] As a maximum of six seats on the Waterbury Public Schools Board of Education could be held by members of the same political party, Waterbury's city charter stated that only three members of a political party could run in each election cycle.[4]

To cast a ballot in this election, citizens had to register to vote by October 31, 2017.[5] For information on the voter identification requirements in Connecticut, please click here.

Candidates and results

At-Large

Results

Waterbury Public Schools,
At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Melissa Serrano-Adorno 15.97% 3,666
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Karen E. Harvey Incumbent 15.65% 3,594
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Thomas Van Stone, Sr. Incumbent 14.79% 3,395
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Charles L. Stango Incumbent 14.68% 3,370
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Juanita Hernandez Incumbent 14.63% 3,359
     Republican Zaida Martinez 9.89% 2,271
     CIP Margaret O'Brien 5.70% 1,308
     CIP Danielle Albert 4.47% 1,026
     CIP Shakirah Howard 4.22% 970
Total Votes 22,959
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

Democratic Party Karen E. Harvey Green check mark transparent.png Democratic Party Juanita Hernandez Green check mark transparent.png Democratic Party Melissa Serrano-Adorno Green check mark transparent.png

Karen E. Harvey.jpg

  • Incumbent

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  • Incumbent

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Republican Party Charles L. Stango Green check mark transparent.png Republican Party Thomas Van Stone Sr. Green check mark transparent.png Republican Party Zaida Martinez

Charles L. Stango.jpg

  • Incumbent

Thomas Van Stone, Sr..jpg

  • Incumbent

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Independence Party of America Margaret O'Brien Independence Party of America Danielle Albert Independence Party of America Shakirah Howard

Margaret A. O'Brien.jpg

Danielle Albert.PNG

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Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Connecticut elections, 2017

The Waterbury Public Schools Board of Education was scheduled to share the ballot with the city clerk, city sheriff, and aldermen for District 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.[6]

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for this Connecticut school board election in 2017:[5]


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

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2017
Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png

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.[7]

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.[7][8]

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.[7][8]

Candidates who participated in the general election had different filing deadlines than candidates who participated in the primary election.[9]

Past elections

See also: Past elections in Waterbury Public Schools

To see results from past elections in Waterbury Public Schools, click here.

What was at stake?

Report a story for this election

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Candidate survey

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Click here to view or fill out the survey.

About the district

See also: Waterbury Public Schools, Connecticut
Waterbury Public Schools is located in New Haven County, Connecticut.

Waterbury Public Schools is located in south-central Connecticut in New Haven County. The county does not have a county seat. The county was home to an estimated 856,875 residents from 2010 to 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[10] The district was the fourth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 18,784 students.[11]

Demographics

New Haven County underperformed in comparison to the rest of Connecticut in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2016. The United States Census Bureau found that 34.0 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 New Haven County was $61,640, while it was $70,331 for Connecticut. The county poverty rate was 13.6 percent, compared to the state's 9.8 percent.[10]

Racial Demographics, 2010-2016[10]
Race New Haven County (%) Connecticut (%)
White 78.2 80.6
Black or African American 14.6 11.8
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5 0.5
Asian 4.3 4.7
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.1 0.1
Two or More Races 2.4 2.3
Hispanic or Latino 17.6 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 Waterbury Public Schools Connecticut election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

Waterbury Public Schools Connecticut School Boards
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External links

Footnotes