What's on your ballot? - April 21, 2015
April 17, 2015
By Ballotpedia staff Follow @ballotpedia
 |
|---|
| Elections on April 21, 2015 |
| California |
| Florida |
| New Jersey |
| Texas |
Elections on April 21, 2015, will include five school board and state legislative races across four states. Three of America's largest school districts, two in New Jersey and one in California, are holding school board elections for three seats each. A pair of vacant state legislative seats, Florida House of Representatives District 64 and Texas House of Representatives District 124, are also up for special election.
In New Jersey, Newark Public Schools and Passaic Public Schools are two of the last school districts to hold elections in April. In 2012, Gov. Chris Christie (R) signed a law that allowed districts to move their school board elections to November. As of the April 2012 elections, 87 percent of districts had chosen to move their elections to November, and now only 18 New Jersey school districts still hold elections in April.[1]
The Newark school board election is complicated by the lack of power held by the Newark Advisory Board. Since 1995, the state government has controlled the school district. Decades of state control and tensions between state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson and the Newark Advisory Board have fostered local resistance from community members and local politicians who oppose Anderson's reform plan, "One Newark."[2] The February 2015 announcement from Gov. Christie that the state would renew Anderson's contract highlighted anew the ongoing turmoil in the district.[3]
The key figure in the Newark race isn't a school board candidate; it's Mayor Ras J. Baraka, who supports local control of the public school system and who denounces the One Newark plan.[4]
Over the last four election cycles, Baraka's Children First Team (CFT) candidate slate has accumulated a seven-member majority on the nine-member advisory board. The team first became a part of the advisory board elections in 2011. Baraka was then the South Ward representative on the Newark City Council. He served on the council from 2010 until 2014, when he was elected Mayor of Newark. Baraka has backed three candidates for the advisory board each year. From 2011 to 2014, the CFT has won at least two seats in each election. In 2015, two seats held by CFT members are up for election. Baraka endorsed incumbent Marques-Aquil Lewis and challengers Dashay Carter and Crystal Fonseca to form this year's Children First Team.[5]
The other two school board elections, Passaic in New Jersey and Arcadia in California, are less eventful. In Passaic, at-large incumbents Byron Bustos, Salim Patel and Ronald Van Rensalier face challenger Rene L. Griggs. This is the sixth school board campaign for Griggs and her second attempt to win a seat from Bustos, Patel and Van Rensalier. The three incumbents are running as a slate.[6] In Arcadia, incumbents Kay Kinsler, Cung T. Nguyen and Lori Allison Phillipi are running unopposed and will not appear on the ballot. This is the third consecutive election cycle not to feature a competitive race in the Arcadia Unified School District.[7]
In contrast, both of the state legislative seats up for election have competition.
In Florida, the District 64 seat was vacated due to an invalidated result in the 2014 general election.[8] James Grant (R), who ran unopposed in the primary election on February 10, 2015, will face write-in candidate Daniel John Matthews for the seat. Grant previously held the seat from 2010 to 2014.
In Texas, the District 124 seat was vacated following Jose Menendez's (D) election to the Texas State Senate on February 17, 2015.[9] Four Democratic candidates competed in the special election on March 31, 2015, but the race resulted in a runoff election between the top two vote recipients, Delicia Herrera and Ina Minjarez.
Note: Click on the links below for more details about each race and election results.
California
School boards
- Arcadia Unified School District - three seats up for general election, all candidates unopposed
Florida
State legislatures
- Florida House of Representatives - District 64 (special general)
New Jersey
School boards
- Newark Public Schools - three seats up for general election
- Passaic Public Schools - three seats up for general election
Texas
State legislatures
- Texas House of Representatives - District 124 (special runoff)
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ NJ.com, "Few N.J. school districts still hold elections, budget votes in April," March 4, 2015
- ↑ Politicker NJ, "Anderson, One Newark plan grilled by state committee on public schools," January 6, 2015
- ↑ NJ.com, "State renews contract of embattled Newark schools superintendent Cami Anderson," February 27, 2015
- ↑ NJ.com, "Newark Mayor Ras Baraka says 'One Newark' school plan burdens parents," September 4, 2014
- ↑ NJ.com, "Ten candidates sign up for Newark school board race," March 4, 2015
- ↑ The Record, "Lone challenger to face three incumbents in Passaic school board election," March 3, 2015
- ↑ Pasadena Star News, "With no opposition for 3 incumbents, Arcadia Board of Education cancels spring election," March 24, 2015
- ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Governor calls special election for state House 64 seat," November 24, 2014
- ↑ NewsWest9.com, "Special election March 31 will replace Menendez in House," March 4, 2015
| |||||
