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William S. Hart Union High School District elections (2015)
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Two seats on the William S. Hart Union High School District Governing Board were up for general election on November 3, 2015.[1][2] This election was the first time the district elected candidates by district.[3]
Linda Storli defeated incumbent Gloria Mercado-Fortine for the Trustee Area 1 seat. Trustee Area 4 incumbent Steven Sturgeon defeated challenger Andrew Taban.[4]
See how this race compared to past school board elections in both the district and the state in the "Election trends" section.
About the district
William S. Hart Union High School District is located in Los Angeles County in southwestern California. The county seat is Los Angeles.[5] Los Angeles County was home to 10,116,705 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[6] During the 2012-2013 school year, William S. Hart Union High School District was the 44th-largest school district by enrollment in California and served 26,373 students.[7]
Demographics
Los Angeles County underperformed compared to the rest of California in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 30.7 percent for California as a whole. The median household income for Los Angeles County was $55,909, compared to $61,094 for the entire state. The percentage of people below poverty level was 17.8 percent, compared to 15.9 percent statewide.[6]
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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.
Voter and candidate information
The William S. Hart Union Governing Board consists of five members elected geographically by district to four-year terms. Prior to 2015, school board elections were held at large. Board members are elected on a staggered basis every November of odd-numbered years. There are no primary elections. Three at-large seats were up for election on November 5, 2013, and the Trustee Area 1 and 4 seats were on the ballot on November 3, 2015.[1][3][9]
School board candidates must be at least 18 years old, residents of the school district and qualified voters. They cannot be employees of the school district while in office.[10] To get on the ballot, candidates had to file their declaration of candidacy with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk by August 7, 2015.[11]
To vote in this election, residents of the district had to register by October 19, 2015. Voters could cast vote-by-mail ballots from October 24, 2015, through Election Day.[11] Photo identification was not required to vote in California.
Elections
2015
Candidates
Trustee Area 1
Election results
| William S. Hart Union High School District, Trustee Area 1, General Election, 2015 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Linda Storli |
57.0% | 1,428 |
| Gloria Mercado-Fortine Incumbent | 43.0% | 1,078 |
| Total Votes | 2,506 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015 | ||
Candidates
| Gloria Mercado-Fortine | Linda Storli 
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Trustee Area 4
Election results
| William S. Hart Union High School District, Trustee Area 4, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Steven Sturgeon Incumbent |
61.5% | 1,570 |
| Andrew Taban | 38.5% | 984 |
| Total Votes | 2,554 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015 | ||
Candidates
| Steven Sturgeon
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Andrew Taban | ||
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Endorsements
Trustee Area 1 incumbent Gloria Mercado-Fortine was endorsed by the Hart District Teachers Association.[12] Trustee Area 4 challenger Andrew Taban was endorsed by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.[13]
Trustee Area 4 incumbent Steven Sturgeon and Trustee Area 1 challenger Linda Storli were endorsed by Congressman Steve Knight (R) and State Assemblyman Scott Wilk (R).[14][15]
Sturgeon was additionally endorsed by William S. Hart Union High School District Board Trustees Bob Jensen, Joe Messina and Rob Hall.[16] Storli was also endorsed by State Sen. Sharon Runner (R).[14]
Campaign finance
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[17][18][19]
Campaign finance reporting requirements in California vary depending on how much money candidates spend or raise. For candidates planning to raise or spend less than $1,000, an Officeholder and Candidate Campaign Statement Short Form (Form 470) must be filed with their county or city elections office. If candidates plan to spend up to $1,000, including their own funds, they must also file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501). "If a candidate does not raise any money and personal funds are used only to pay filing or ballot statement fees, the candidate is not required to file the Form 501," according to the Fair Political Practices Commission. If candidates raise money outside of their own funds, a separate campaign bank account must be established.[20]
Candidates raising or spending more than $1,000, including their personal funds, must file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501), file a Statement of Organization (Form 410) and establish a separate bank account for campaign funds. They must then file Recipient Committee Campaign Statements (Form 460) to disclose their contributions and expenditures throughout their campaigns. If they receive more than $1,000 from a single source within 90 days of the election, they must file a 24-hour Contribution Report (Form 497).[20]
If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2013Three seats on the William S. Hart Union High School District Governing Board were up for election on November 5, 2013. Three incumbent candidates filed for re-election and were unopposed. The school district canceled the election due to lack of opposition, which left Bob Jensen, Paul B. Strickland and Joe Messina as the default winners of the three at-large seats. 2011
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What was at stake?
2015
Election trends
- See also: 2013 school board elections
With two seats on the ballot on November 3, 2015, nearly half of the William S. Hart Union High Governing Board had the potential to change hands. Both incumbents sought to retain their seats, and they faced two challengers. One incumbent won re-election, and a newcomer took the other seat.
The average of two candidates running per seat in the 2015 election was higher than the 2014 state average of 1.91 candidates per seat up for election in California's largest school districts.
William S. Hart Union High's 2013 school board election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Three seats were on the ballot, and all three incumbents ran unopposed to retain their seats, allowing them to get appointed rather than appear on the ballot. In 2014, just over 25 percent of school board seats up for election across the state were unopposed, and 37.65 percent of seats went to newcomers.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the William S. Hart Union High School District election in 2015:[11][21]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| June 8, 2015 - August 7, 2015 | Candidate filing period |
| July 31, 2015 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
| August 5, 2015 - November 2, 2015 | 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period |
| September 7, 2015 - October 20, 2015 | Write-in candidate filing period |
| September 24, 2015 | Pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 19, 2015 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 22, 2015 | Pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 24, 2015 | First day voters can cast vote-by-mail ballots |
| November 3, 2015 | Election Day |
| February 1, 2016 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2015
No elections shared the ballot with the William S. Hart Union High School District. A number of other school districts in Los Angeles County, however, also held school board elections on November 3, 2015.[22]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms William S. Hart Union High School District California. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| William S. Hart Union High School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “2015 Scheduled Elections,” accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “Running for Office,” accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Santa Clarita Valley Signal, "Candidates lining up for November school board elections," July 14, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate List Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ Geology.com, "California County Map with County Seat Cities," accessed July 1, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 United States Census Bureau, "Los Angeles County, California," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Past Election Results," accessed July 1, 2014
- ↑ William S. Hart Union High School District, "Governing Board," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ William S. Hart Union High School District, "BB 9220 Board Bylaws: Governing Board Elections," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Calendar of Events," accessed July 29, 2015
- ↑ Mercado-Fortine For Hart School Board, "Home," accessed October 30, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Democratic Party, "Endorsements," accessed October 27, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Linda Storli for Hart, "Endorsements," accessed October 30, 2015
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Additional Endorsements for Steven M. Sturgeon: Candidate for Governing Board Member; William S. Hart Union High School District; Trustee Area 4," accessed October 30, 2015
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Additional Endorsements for Steven M. Sturgeon: Candidate for Governing Board Member; William S. Hart Union High School District; Trustee Area 4," accessed October 30, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Fair Political Practices Commission, "Local Candidates, Superior Court Judges, Their Controlled Committees, and Primarily Formed Committees for Local Candidates: Campaign Disclosure Manual 2," accessed August 5, 2015
- ↑ Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 3, 2015," accessed August 5, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed July 29, 2015
| 2015 William S. Hart Union High School District Elections | |
| Los Angeles County, California | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 1: • Incumbent, Gloria Mercado-Fortine • Linda Storli Trustee Area 4: • Incumbent, Steven Sturgeon • Andrew Taban |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
