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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools elections (2017)
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Six of the nine seats on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education in North Carolina were up for by-district general election on November 7, 2017. A total of 20 candidates filed for the seats.
District 1 saw board member Rhonda Lennon Cheek defeat challengers Annette Albright, Amy Hallman, and Jess Miller. In District 2, incumbent Thelma Byers-Bailey filed for re-election and defeated newcomer Lenora Shipp. District 3 saw board member Ruby Jones defeat former candidate Janeen Bryant, Emmitt Butts, former candidate Levester Flowers, Blanche Penn, and Olivia Scott in the race for the seat. In District 4, Carol Sawyer defeated Queen Thompson and Stephanie Sneed in the race for the open spot on the board. District 5 saw Margaret Marshall defeat Jim Peterson and former candidate Jeremy Stephenson in the race for the open seat, and District 6 saw Sean Strain defeat Allen Smith in the race for the open seat.[1]
Sneed's name was originally left off the candidate list for this election after she accidentally filed to run in District 5 when she was registered to vote in District 4. Sneed tried to correct her filing, but the noon filing deadline had already passed. After seeking the opinion of the State Board of Elections, Elections Director Michael Dickerson allowed Sneed's name to be placed on the ballot for District 4.[2]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education consists of nine members elected to four-year terms. Three members are elected at large and the remaining six are elected by district. Board members are compensated $1,019.79 per month and the Chairperson is compensated $1,325.74 per month.[3]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file a notice of candidacy with their county board of elections by July 21, 2017. In North Carolina, candidates must be registered voters of the district, at least 21 years of age by the date of the general election, and not serving an active felony sentence, including any period of probation or parole.[4]
To vote in North Carolina, voters must be U.S. citizens and residents of North Carolina who have lived in the county they intend to vote in for at least 30 days. Citizens must also be at least 18 years old. If a voter has been convicted of a felony, their right to vote must have been restored. A voter in North Carolina cannot claim the right to vote elsewhere. To vote in this 2017 school board election, citizens had to register to vote by October 13, 2017.[5]
- See also: Voting in North Carolina and Voter identification laws by state
Candidates and results
District 1
Results
| Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Rhonda Lennon Incumbent |
% | 8,600 |
| Annette Albright | % | 5,392 |
| Jess Miller | % | 4,496 |
| Amy Hallman | % | 1,263 |
| Write-in votes | 0.74% | 147 |
| Total Votes | 19,898 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, "11/07/2017 Unofficial General Election Results - Mecklenburg," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Candidates
Rhonda Lennon Cheek 
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Annette Albright | ||
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| Amy Hallman | Jess Miller | ||
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District 2
Results
| Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Thelma Byers-Bailey Incumbent |
57.34% | 9,793 |
| Lenora Shipp | 41.79% | 7,138 |
| Write-in votes | 0.87% | 148 |
| Total Votes | 17,079 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, "11/07/2017 Unofficial General Election Results - Mecklenburg," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Candidates
| Thelma Byers-Bailey
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Lenora Shipp | ||
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District 3
Results
| Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Ruby Jones Incumbent |
29.12% | 4,771 |
| Janeen Bryant | 24.00% | 3,932 |
| Emmitt Butts | 15.45% | 2,531 |
| Blanche Penn | 15.19% | 2,488 |
| Olivia Scott | 10.21% | 1,672 |
| Levester Flowers | 5.35% | 877 |
| Write-in votes | 0.68% | 111 |
| Total Votes | 16,382 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, "11/07/2017 Unofficial General Election Results - Mecklenburg," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Candidates
| Ruby Jones
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Janeen Bryant | Emmitt Butts | |||
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| Levester Flowers | Blanche Penn | Olivia Scott | |||
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District 4
Results
| Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Carol Sawyer |
47.39% | 7,856 |
| Stephanie Sneed | 30.98% | 5,136 |
| Queen Thompson | 20.73% | 3,437 |
| Write-in votes | 0.66% | 109 |
| Total Votes | 16,538 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, "11/07/2017 Unofficial General Election Results - Mecklenburg," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Candidates
| Carol Sawyer
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Queen Thompson | Stephanie Sneed | |||
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District 5
Results
| Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Margaret Marshall |
64.10% | 21,177 |
| Jeremy Stephenson | 19.28% | 6,369 |
| Jim Peterson | 16.16% | 5,339 |
| Write-in votes | 0.47% | 155 |
| Total Votes | 33,040 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, "11/07/2017 Unofficial General Election Results - Mecklenburg," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Candidates
| Margaret Marshall
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Jim Peterson | Jeremy Stephenson | |||
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District 6
Results
| Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Sean Strain |
56.68% | 11,528 |
| Allen Smith | 42.38% | 8,619 |
| Write-in votes | 0.93% | 190 |
| Total Votes | 20,337 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, "11/07/2017 Unofficial General Election Results - Mecklenburg," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Candidates
| Allen Smith | Sean Strain
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: North Carolina elections, 2017
This North Carolina school board election shared the ballot with elections for city council and mayor.[1]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for this North Carolina school board election in 2017:
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
School board candidates in North Carolina are required to file a statement of organization within 10 days of filing for office. Candidates who do not think they will receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle are permitted to file a Certification of Threshold form. Once that has been filed, they are not required to file disclosure reports unless they exceed the threshold, but still must keep records of all campaign contributions and expenditures.
If a candidate does exceed the threshold, he or she must then file an amendment form and begin reporting all contributions and expenditures according to that year's reporting schedule.[6]
The table below displays the reporting schedule for 2017 school board candidates in North Carolina:
Past elections
To see results from past elections in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, click here.
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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About the district
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is located in Mecklenburg County in western North Carolina. The seat of county government is Charlotte. Mecklenburg County was home to an estimated 1,054,835 residents between 2010 and 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[7] The district was the second-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 145,636 students.[8]
Demographics
Mecklenburg County outperformed North Carolina as a whole in terms of higher education attainment from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 42.3 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had obtained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 28.4 percent of all state residents. The median household income in the county was $56,854, while it was $46,868 for the entire state. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 14.3 percent, while that rate was 16.4 percent for all state residents.[7]
| Racial Demographics, 2016[7] | ||
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| Race | Mecklenburg County (%) | North Carolina (%) |
| White | 58.2 | 71.0 |
| Black or African American | 32.7 | 22.2 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| Asian | 5.8 | 2.9 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 2.3 | 2.2 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 13.0 | 9.2 |
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 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools North Carolina election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools | North Carolina | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, "Candidate List," accessed July 24, 2017
- ↑ Charlotte Observer, "Confused CMS board candidate who filed in wrong district can switch, official says," July 24, 2017
- ↑ Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, "Board of Education" accessed September 10, 2013
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2017 Municipal Elections," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Voter Information," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2015 Candidate Campaign Finance Manual," accessed August 7, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 United States Census Bureau, "Quick Facts: Mecklenburg County," accessed September 11, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
