John Patterson Blair

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

John Patterson Blair

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 6, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Haverford College, 1969

Graduate

Temple University, 1974

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve

Years of service

1965 - 1971

Personal

Birthplace

Philadelphia, Pa.

Religion

Unaffiliated

Profession

Science teacher

Contact

Personal website

John Patterson Blair ran for election for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction. He lost in the primary on August 6, 2024.

Blair completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

John Patterson Blair was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Blair's career experience includes working as a science teacher and service mechanic. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve from 1965 to 1971. Blair earned a bachelor's degree from the Haverford College in 1969 and a graduate degree from Temple University in 1974. Blair has been affiliated with the Libertarian Party.

Elections

2024

See also: Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2024

General election

General election for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction

Incumbent Chris Reykdal defeated David Olson in the general election for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Reykdal (Nonpartisan)	52.8	1,746,848
		David Olson (Nonpartisan)	46.6	1,543,550
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	19,932

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,310,330
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction

Incumbent Chris Reykdal and David Olson defeated Reid Saaris and John Patterson Blair in the primary for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Reykdal (Nonpartisan)	39.3	702,227
✔		David Olson (Nonpartisan)	31.2	557,822
		Reid Saaris (Nonpartisan)	23.9	427,788
		John Patterson Blair (Nonpartisan)	5.1	91,410
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	7,404

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,786,651
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Chad Magendanz (Nonpartisan)
• David Spring (Nonpartisan)
• Brad Klippert (Nonpartisan)
• Vincent Perez (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Blair in this election.

2016

Main article: Washington Superintendent of Schools election, 2016

Blair filed to run in the 2016 election for the nonpartisan position of Washington superintendent of public instruction. Eight other candidates filed for the office. Blair was defeated in the August 2 top-two primary election by Erin Jones and state Rep. Chris Reykdal.

The following candidates ran in the Washington primary for superintendent of schools.

Washington primary for superintendent of schools, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Erin Jones	25.76%	295,330
	Nonpartisan	Chris Reykdal	20.95%	240,194
	Nonpartisan	Ronald Higgins	16.65%	190,886
	Nonpartisan	Robin Fleming	13.52%	154,991
	Nonpartisan	David Spring	8.52%	97,702
	Nonpartisan	John Patterson Blair	5.59%	64,064
	Nonpartisan	KumRoon Maksirisombat	3.79%	43,491
	Nonpartisan	Al Runte	3.26%	37,386
	Nonpartisan	Grazyna Prouty	1.94%	22,265
Total Votes				1,146,309
Source: Washington Secretary of State

2012

See also: Washington down ballot state executive elections, 2012

Blair ran for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2012. He faced incumbent Randy Dorn, James Bauckman, Ronald Higgins and Don Hansler in the blanket primary on August 7. Blair did not advance to the general election.

Primary

Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction, Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Randy I. Dorn	56.2%	634,314
Ronald L. (Ron) Higgins	15.3%	172,331
James Bauckman	13.2%	149,370
Don Hansler	9.2%	104,260
John Patterson Blair	6%	67,898
Total Votes		1,128,173
Election results via Washington Secretary of State.

2008

Blair ran for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2008. He came in fourth place in the primary with 7.46% of the vote.

2004

Blair unsuccessfully ran for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2004.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Patterson Blair completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Blair's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

From the Washington State Voters Pamphlet:

Elected Experience Vashon Island (WA) School Board 2000-04

Other Professional Experience High School Science Teacher 1969-76; Developed and taught a high school "special education to mainstream science" transition curriculum 1970-72; NEA and AFT simultaneous memberships; Teachers (NEA) contract negotiator 1970-72; A founding and participating teacher (science), Cinnaminson (NJ) Public Alternative High School for 170+ 10th-12th grade students who wanted to take responsibility for their own education 1972-76; Voters Pamphlet for OSPI, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016; average 75,000 votes, 7% statewide.

Education Haverford College, BA Sociology; Temple University, MEd Science

Community Service

A founding and participating parent, Vashon (WA) Parent Involvement Program, Alternative Public Elementary School (40 students) 1983-90

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• The three "messages" below are from the WA State Voters Pamphlet Statement.

  This is a referendum, not a candidacy. You are voting for an proposal, not a person.

  The Voters Pamphlet Statement

  (This is) A Referendum: Every child is unique and families should have the opportunity to individualize their own children's public education

  I propose A New Foundation for Public Education, (of which existing public schools would be an unchanged part), consisting of:

  Individual Student Trust Accounts - funded annually using each student's existing $12,000+ state education voucher. With approval, each student's parents may spend these accumulating funds at any Registered Public Education Program(s) of their choice.
• Registered Public Education Programs - any educational program, regardless of ownership, which: Accepts only trust funds as tuition, i.e. "free"; Fills at least 80% of its openings without admission qualification, i.e. "open enrollment"; Permits the study, but not the practice, of religion; and Publishes measurable educational and behavioral goals for its students. Students not achieving these goals may be dismissed by the program.
• Neighborhood Education Districts - administered by three locally elected trustees, will oversee the educational progress of 50 to 200 participating neighborhood students. The trustees must approve parental education choices for students passing applicable "WASL" tests. Community Facility Districts - locally elected, will own, operate and maintain all public facilities. Life-cycle maintenance funds will be included in the original bond funding.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The organization of the public education system.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

It is the future.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Politically I'm a libertarian. I believe in the primacy of the dignity each and every individual; that is to say, their opportunity to control their own lives. It works of Ayn Rand, Eric Hoffer, Ivan Illich and John McKnight, specifically his The Careless Society, Community and Its Counterfeits.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

A commitment to protect and enhance the opportunities for the choices that each and every constituent desires to enable them to control their own lives and perhaps counterintuitively in today's political climate, not just for those who voted for the elected official but for all their constituents, .

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To represent the interests of the parents to the government and to see that the rules of the government are uniformily implemented.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Superhero, Domino whose superpower is that she is lucky.

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

To represent the self-identified interests of the parents and the learners.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

I believe management generally requires experience. Innovation generally requires ignorance of barriers that others cannot see past.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

I believe the most important thing is a belief. A belief that every individual has the capability of a creating a life for themselves which is fulfilling on their own terms. The role of the public education system should be to provide each individual with the opportunities to create that life, and to provide the citizenry with the skills needed to run a nation.

Tell us your favorite joke.

THE TEST OF TRUE LOVE
Close your spouse and your dog in the truck of your car. In 15 minutes open the truck, which one's glad to see you?

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

We should are on the side of too much transparency and too much accountability. We should have three rules for anything the government proposes:

What do you want to accomplish ?
How are you going to accomplish it?

And finally, how are you going to demonstrate that you've accomplished what you set out to accomplish.?

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Candidate statement

Patterson Blair provided the following candidate statement for the Washington State voter guide:

“	A Referendum: Every child is unique and families should have the opportunity to individualize their own children's public education I propose A New Foundation for Public Education, (of which existing public schools would be an unchanged part), consisting of: Individual Student Trust Accounts - funded annually using each student's existing $12,000+ state education voucher. With approval, each student's parents may spend these accumulating funds at any Registered Public Education Program(s) of their choice. Registered Public Education Programs- any educational program, regardless of ownership, which: Accepts only trust funds as tuition, i.e. "free"; Fills at least 80% of its openings without admission qualification, i.e. "open enrollment"; Permits the study, but not the practice, of religion; and Publishes measurable educational and behavioral goals for its students. Students not achieving these goals may be dismissed by the program. Neighborhood Education Districts - administered by three locally elected trustees, will oversee the educational progress of 50 to 200 participating neighborhood students. The trustees must approve parental education choices for students passing applicable "WASL" tests. Community Facility Districts - locally elected, will own, operate and maintain all public facilities. Life-cycle maintenance funds will be included in the original bond funding. Interested? Vote for me.	”
—John Patterson Blair (2024)

Campaign finance summary

---

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

---

John Patterson Blair campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction	Lost primary	$0	$0
Grand total			$0	$0
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Personal

Website