Upper Darby School District elections (2017)
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Five of the nine seats on the Upper Darby School District school board were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. Four seats were up for regular four-year terms and an additional seat was up for a two-year term. A partisan primary election was held on May 16, 2017.
A total of eight candidates filed for the four-year terms. Board incumbents Maureen E. Carey, Vincent Gordon, Rachel Mitchell, and Kate Smith cross-filed to appear on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. They faced Denise Rockenbach, who also cross-filed, and Edward Brown, Neil Desnoyers, and Monica Taylor, who filed to run as Democrats. Taylor, Mitchell, Desnoyers, and Brown all won the Democratic nominations and advanced to the general. Carey, Gordon, Smith, and Rockenbach won the Republican nominations and advanced to the general. Incumbent Mitchell and challengers Taylor, Brown, and Desnoyers defeated incumbents Carey, Gordon, and Smith and challenger Rockenbach in the general election.
Two newcomers filed for the open two-year term on the board: Kelly Colvin, who cross-filed, and Gina Curry, who filed as a Democrat. Curry won the Democratic nomination and Colvin won the Republican nomination and advanced to the general election. Curry went on to defeat Colvin in the general election on November 7, 2017.[1][2][3]
These candidates could have faced independent candidates in the general election. However, no independent candidate filed by the August 1, 2017, deadline to get on the ballot.[4]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Upper Darby school board is composed of nine members elected at large to four-year, staggered terms. Five seats were up for election on November 3, 2015, and four seats were up for election on November 7, 2017.
Cross-filing
Pennsylvania permits school board candidates to cross-file in primary elections. This means that a candidate may file to run in the primary election for both the Democratic and Republican parties. A cross-filed candidate can advance to the general election by winning one or both of the partisan primaries. This maximizes a candidate’s chances of advancing to the general as they have two ways to win in the primary round. If the candidate wins only one, they face the winner of the other primary in the general election. Cross-filers who win both primaries may still face independent candidates in the general election.
General candidate requirements
To run for a school board in Pennsylvania, one must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old, and a resident of the school district for at least one year before the election date. To run in this 2017 school board election, partisan candidates had to file for office by March 7, 2017, and independent candidates had to file by August 1, 2017.[5][6]
Voter requirements
To vote in Pennsylvania, a resident must be a U.S. citizen for at least one month and a resident of the district in which he or she is registering for at least 30 days before the election. A voter must be at least 18 years of age by the next election date. The deadline to register to vote before the primary election was April 17, 2017, and the deadline to register to vote before the general election was October 10, 2017.[7]
- See also: Voting in Pennsylvania and Voter identification laws by state
Candidates and results
At-Large general (four-year terms)
Results
| Upper Darby School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Monica Taylor |
14.18% | 8,380 | |
| Democratic | Rachel Mitchell Incumbent |
14.13% | 8,346 | |
| Democratic | Edward Brown |
13.01% | 7,688 | |
| Democratic | Neil Desnoyers |
12.60% | 7,444 | |
| Republican | Maureen E. Carey Incumbent | 11.97% | 7,072 | |
| Republican | Vincent Gordon Incumbent | 11.53% | 6,813 | |
| Republican | Kate Smith Incumbent | 11.41% | 6,740 | |
| Republican | Denise Rockenbach | 11.16% | 6,593 | |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 2 | ||
| Total Votes | 59,078 | |||
| Source: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Un-Official Municipal Election 2017 Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Candidates
 Maureen E. Carey
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Vincent Gordon
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 Rachel Mitchell 
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Kate Smith
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| Denise Rockenbach
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Edward Brown
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Neil Desnoyers
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Monica Taylor
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At-Large general (two-year term)
Results
| Upper Darby School District, At-Large General Election, 2-year term, 2017 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Gina Curry |
55.15% | 8,611 | |
| Republican | Kelly Colvin | 44.84% | 7,002 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.01% | 1 | ||
| Total Votes | 15,614 | |||
| Source: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Un-Official Municipal Election 2017 Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||||
Candidates
| Kelly Colvin
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Gina Curry
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At-Large primary (four-year terms)
Democratic results
| Upper Darby School District, At-Large Democratic Primary Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Monica Taylor |
18.59% | 2,244 | |
| Democratic | Rachel Mitchell Incumbent |
18.35% | 2,214 | |
| Democratic | Neil Desnoyers |
17.11% | 2,065 | |
| Democratic | Edward Brown |
16.02% | 1,933 | |
| Democratic | Maureen E. Carey Incumbent | 10.49% | 1,266 | |
| Democratic | Kate Smith Incumbent | 10.14% | 1,224 | |
| Democratic | Denise Rockenbach | 5.57% | 672 | |
| Democratic | Vincent Gordon Incumbent | 3.71% | 448 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.02% | 2 | ||
| Total Votes | 12,068 | |||
| Source: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Official Municipal Primary 2017 Results for Upper Darby Township," accessed June 21, 2017 | ||||
Republican results
| Upper Darby School District, At-Large Republican Primary Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Maureen E. Carey Incumbent |
25.08% | 2,926 | |
| Republican | Vincent Gordon Incumbent |
21.63% | 2,523 | |
| Republican | Kate Smith Incumbent |
19.70% | 2,298 | |
| Republican | Denise Rockenbach |
18.50% | 2,158 | |
| Republican | Rachel Mitchell Incumbent | 15.05% | 1,756 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.03% | 4 | ||
| Total Votes | 11,665 | |||
| Source: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Official Municipal Primary 2017 Results for Upper Darby Township," accessed June 21, 2017 | ||||
At-Large primary (two-year term)
Democratic results
| Upper Darby School District, At-Large Democratic Primary Election, 2-year term, 2017 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Gina Curry |
65.08% | 2,255 | |
| Democratic | Kelly Colvin | 34.86% | 1,208 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.06% | 2 | ||
| Total Votes | 3,465 | |||
| Source: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Official Municipal Primary 2017 Results for Upper Darby Township," accessed June 21, 2017 | ||||
Republican results
| Upper Darby School District, At-Large Republican Primary Election, 2-year term, 2017 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Kelly Colvin (unopposed) |
100.00% | 3,260 | |
| Total Votes | 3,260 | |||
| Source: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Official Municipal Primary 2017 Results for Upper Darby Township," accessed June 21, 2017 | ||||
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2017
The Upper Darby School District general election shared the ballot with elections for:[4]
- State judges
- Local trial court judges
- Elections judges
- Elections inspectors
- Treasurer
- City council
The Upper Darby School District primary election shared the ballot with primary elections for state judges, local court elections, and Upper Darby Township treasurer, council, and inspectors of election.[2]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for this Pennsylvania school board election in 2017:[8]
| Deadline | Event |
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| March 7, 2017 | Partisan candidate filing deadline |
| April 17, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote before the primary election |
| May 16, 2017 | Primary election day |
| August 1, 2017 | Independent candidate filing deadline |
| October 10, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote before the general election |
| November 7, 2017 | General election day |
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
| 2017 Campaign Finance Deadlines in Pennsylvania[9] | |
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| Date | Deadline |
| May 5, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Primary report due |
| June 15, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Primary report due |
| October 27, 2017 | 2nd Friday Pre-Election report due |
| December 7, 2017 | 30-Day Post-Election report due |
School board candidates in Pennsylvania were required to report their campaign finance activity. Those who spent or received more than $250 in a reporting period had to file full reports. Those below the threshold had to file forms to declare they were exempt from reporting. Candidates could have, but were not required to, form committees to handle campaign finance transactions. They were not required to have separate bank accounts for campaign purposes.[10]
The table to the left details the four campaign finance deadlines in 2017.[9]
Past elections
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What was at stake?
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About the district
The Upper Darby School District is located in Upper Darby, a township in eastern Delaware County in Pennsylvania. Delaware County was home to an estimated 563,402 residents between 2010 and 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the eighth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 12,193 students.[11][12]
Demographics
Delaware County outperformed Pennsylvania as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 36.0 percent of county residents had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 28.6 percent of state residents. The median household income in the county was $65,123, compared to $53,599 for the entire state. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 10.4 percent, while that rate was 13.2 percent for all state residents.[12]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[12] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Delaware County (%) | Pennsylvania (%) |
| White | 70.6 | 82.6 |
| Black or African American | 21.4 | 11.7 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Asian | 5.6 | 3.4 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 2.1 | 1.9 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 3.7 | 6.8 |
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 Upper Darby School District Pennsylvania election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Upper Darby School District | Pennsylvania | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Un-Official Municipal Primary 2017 Results for Upper Darby Township," accessed May 16, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Delaware County, "Official Candidate List," accessed April 7, 2017
- ↑ Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Un-Official Municipal Election 2017 Results," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Delaware County, "Official Candidate List," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania School Boards Association, "How to Run for School Board," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ VotesPA, "How to Register," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed April 19, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Campaign Finance Reporting Law," accessed January 15, 2014
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 U.S. Census Bureau, "Delaware County, Pennsylvania," accessed March 27, 2017
| Upper Darby School District elections in 2017 | |
| Delaware County, Pennsylvania | |
| Election date: | Primary: May 16, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-Large (four-year terms): Incumbent, Maureen E. Carey (R) • Incumbent, Vincent Gordon (R) • Incumbent, Rachel Mitchell (D) • Incumbent, Kate Smith (R) • Denise Rockenbach (R) • Edward Brown (D) • Neil Desnoyers (D) • Monica Taylor (D) At-Large (two-year term): Kelly Colvin (R) • Gina Curry (D) |
| Important information: | What's at stake? |
