Charles "Obie" O'Brien
Charles "Obie" O'Brien was a Republican candidate for District 8 representative on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board in Louisiana. He was defeated in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Elections
2014
Nine seats on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board were up for election in 2014. Three of the seats advanced to a general election on December 6, 2014, as no candidate earned 50 percent plus one of the primary election votes in Districts 1, 5 and 8.
Prior to this election, the school board was comprised of 11 members. However, in July 2014, the board voted to accept a redistricting plan that reduced the number of board members to nine. The 2014 election was the first election for the new district boundaries. Due to the redrawing of district boundaries, some incumbents ran in new districts and against one another. District 1 incumbent David Tatman (R) was the only incumbent to have no challengers file against him, and he was automatically elected to the District 9 seat.[1]
Mary Lynch (I), incumbent for the former District 11, ran for re-election to the District 1 seat against newcomers Mark Bellue (R) and Jennifer Andrews (D). Andrews and Bellue advanced to a general election. District 5 incumbent Evelyn Ware-Jackson (D) faced District 9 incumbent Jerry Arbour (R), as well as Patty Merrick (D) and W.T. Winfield (D). Ware-Jackson and Arbour advanced to a general election.[2]
The remaining races did not include redistricted incumbents. District 2 incumbent Vereta Lee (D) ran to retain the same seat against challenger Daniel Banguel (D). Rachel Allmon (D) also filed to run in District 2, but later withdrew from the race. Tarvald Smith (D), the District 4 incumbent, sought re-election against Robert Maxie Sr. (D). Anthony Nelson (D) challenged District 7 incumbent Barbara Freiberg (R). District 8 incumbent Connie Bernard (R) faced multiple challengers as Christopher Bailey (R), Charles "Obie" O'Brien (R) and Joan Wallyn (R) all ran to unseat her. Bernard and Bailey advanced to a general election.[2]
Eugene Weatherspoon (D) withdrew from the race in District 3 against incumbent Kenyetta Nelson-Smith (D), allowing her to be automatically re-elected. Tiffany Perkins (R) and District 10 incumbent Jill Dyason (R) both filed to run for the District 6 seat. However, a court ruling found that Perkins did not legally reside within the boundaries of District 6 and could not run for the seat. This left Dyason unopposed and automatically elected to her new seat.[2][3]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Connie Bernard Incumbent |
46.7% | 6,373 | |
| Republican | Christopher Bailey |
36.1% | 4,926 | |
| Republican | Joan Wallyn | 9.1% | 1,247 | |
| Republican | Charles "Obie" O'Brien | 8% | 1,095 | |
| Total Votes | 13,641 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed November 6, 2014 | ||||
About the district
East Baton Rouge Parish School System is located in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. In 2013, East Baton Rouge Parish was home to approximately 445,227 residents according to estimates by the United States Census Bureau. In the 2011-2012 school year, East Baton Rouge Parish School System was the second-largest school district in Louisiana and served 42,854 students.[4]
Demographics
East Baton Rouge Parish overperformed in comparison to the rest of Louisiana in terms of education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 33.7 percent of East Baton Rouge Parish residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 21.3 percent for Louisiana as a whole. The median household income for East Baton Rouge Parish was $48,274 compared to $44,673 for the state of Louisiana. The percentage of people below poverty level for East Baton Rouge Parish was 18.5 percent while it was 18.7 percent statewide.[4]
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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.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Charles + Obie + O'Brien + East + Baton + Rouge + Parish + School + System + Louisiana"
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- East Baton Rouge Parish School System, Louisiana
- East Baton Rouge Parish School System elections (2014)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Advocate, "EBR School Board agrees to downsize to 9 members," July 25, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ The Advocate, "Judge rules School Board candidate not a resident of district," September 10, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 United States Census Bureau, "East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana," accessed April 30, 2013
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed September 2, 2014
