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Washington County Public Schools elections (2016)

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2014
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Washington County Public Schools Elections

Primary election date:
April 26, 2016
General election date:
November 8, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
22,495 students

Four of the seven seats on the Washington County Board of Education were up for general election on November 8, 2016. A primary election was held on April 26, 2016, with the top eight vote recipients advancing to the general election. Incumbents Donna Brightman, Wayne Ridenour, and Melissa Williams filed for re-election. They faced challengers Al Martin, Pieter Bickford, Joseph Chandler, Linda Murray, Stan Stouffer, and Robin Lynne Wivell in the primary election. All of these candidates except Chandler advanced to the general election. Ridenour, Bickford, Williams, and Stouffer won on November 8, 2016.[1] Wivell withdrew from the election on June 15, 2016.[2]

Elections

Voter and candidate information

The Washington County Board of Education consists of seven members elected at-large to four-year terms. There was a primary election on April 26, 2016, and a general election took place on November 8, 2016.

Board candidates submitted their statements of organization and certificates of candidacy with the county elections office by February 3, 2016. Each candidate was also required to submit a filing fee of $25 to the county. State law required candidates to be registered voters and residents of the district.[3]

County residents had to register to vote for the primary election by April 5, 2016. The county offered early voting in the primary from April 14, 2016, to April 21, 2016. The deadline to register to vote in the general election was October 18, 2016. Early voting for the general election took place from October 27, 2016, to November 3, 2016.[4]

Candidates and results

At-large

Results

Washington County Public Schools,
At-large General Election, 4-Year Terms, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Wayne Ridenour Incumbent 15.61% 26,949
Green check mark transparent.png Pieter Bickford 15.26% 26,344
Green check mark transparent.png Melissa Williams Incumbent 14.96% 25,835
Green check mark transparent.png Stan Stouffer 14.13% 24,402
Donna Brightman Incumbent 13.71% 23,669
Linda Murray 13.65% 23,571
Al Martin 12.34% 21,311
Write-in votes 0.33% 572
Total Votes 172,653
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "2016 Presidential General Election Results," accessed December 14, 2016


Washington County Public Schools,
At-large Primary Election, 4-Year Terms, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Wayne Ridenour Incumbent 14.87% 13,871
Green check mark transparent.png Pieter Bickford 13.80% 12,878
Green check mark transparent.png Donna Brightman Incumbent 12.73% 11,881
Green check mark transparent.png Melissa Williams Incumbent 12.39% 11,564
Green check mark transparent.png Stan Stouffer 12.27% 11,447
Green check mark transparent.png Linda Murray 9.99% 9,326
Green check mark transparent.png Al Martin 9.51% 8,875
Green check mark transparent.png Robin Lynne Wivell 9.51% 8,874
Joseph Chandler 4.92% 4,592
Total Votes 93,308
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Unofficial 2016 Presidential Primary Election results for Washington County," accessed April 26, 2016

Candidates

Donna Brightman Wayne Ridenour Green check mark transparent.png Melissa Williams Green check mark transparent.png

Donna Brightman.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • First appointed in May 2007
  • Horticulture consultant

Wayne Ridenour.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • First elected in 2004
  • B.S., Frostburg State University
  • Real estate appraiser

Melissa Williams.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • First elected in 2012
  • Retired educator
Al Martin Pieter Bickford Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Bachelor's degree, Frostburg State University
  • Retired finance director, City of Hagerstown

Placeholder image.png

  • Bachelor's degree, Ithaca College
  • Editor-in-chief, What's NXT
Linda Murray Stan Stouffer Green check mark transparent.png

Linda Murray.jpg

  • Associate degree, Hagerstown Community College
  • Special education paraprofessional

Stan Stouffer.jpg

  • Associate degree, Hagerstown Junior College
  • Bachelor's degree, Shepherd College
  • Retired teacher

Withdrawn candidates

Robin Lynne Wivell

Placeholder image.png

  • Real estate agent, Coldwell Banker Innovations

Defeated in the primary

Joseph Chandler

Placeholder image.png

  • Associate degrees, Pensacola Junior College and U.S. Air Force
  • Bachelor's degree, Columbia College
  • Master's degrees, Webster University and United Theological Seminary
  • Ph.D., Kennedy-Western University
  • Pastor, Family Life Ministry AME Church

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Maryland elections, 2016

Washington County's school board election appeared on the ballot with races for U.S. president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state courts, and local courts.

School board primaries in Washington County shared the ballot with the state's presidential and congressional primaries.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for Maryland school board elections in 2016:[4]

Deadline Event
February 3, 2016 Candidate filing deadline
March 22, 2016 First campaign finance deadline of election
April 14, 2016 First day of early voting for primary election
April 21, 2016 Last day of early voting for primary election
April 26, 2016 Primary election
October 27, 2016 First day of early voting for general election
November 3, 2016 Last day of early voting for general election
November 8, 2016 General election
November 22, 2016 Final campaign finance deadline of election

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

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016
Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png

Candidates for public office in Maryland had until March 22, 2016, to submit their first contributions and expenditure report of the primary campaign. The final campaign finance deadline of the 2016 campaign was November 22, 2016.[5] State law allows candidates to file Affidavits of Limited Contributions and Expenditures (ALCE) if their campaigns did not accept $1,000 in contributions or spend $1,000 in a particular reporting period.[6]

October 28 filing

Candidates received a total of $3,636.71 and spent a total of $8,736.16 as of October 28, 2016, according to the Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System.[7]

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Donna Brightman (incumbent) $475.00 $2,739.68 $51.37
Wayne Ridenour (incumbent) ALCE ALCE ALCE
Melissa Williams (incumbent) $775.00 $1,203.17 $671.83
Al Martin $150.00 $2,521.19 $243.09
Pieter Bickford $500.00 $424.28 $629.93
Linda Murray $415.00 $752.25 $188.47
Stan Stouffer $1,321.71 $1,095.59 $262.18

March 22 filing

Candidates received a total of $8,516.98 and spent a total of $2,511.71 as of March 22, 2016, according to the Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System.[8]

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Donna Brightman (incumbent) $2,540.00 $119.71 $2,420.29
Wayne Ridenour (incumbent) ALCE ALCE ALCE
Melissa Williams (incumbent) $300.00 $0.00 $300.00
Al Martin $1,700.00 $0.00 $1,700.00
Pieter Bickford $1,000.00 $0.00 $1,000.00
Joseph Chandler ALCE ALCE ALCE
Linda Murray $1,476.98 $898.46 $578.52
Stan Stouffer $1,500.00 $1,493.54 $36.06
Robin Lynne Wivell ALCE ALCE ALCE

Past elections

What was at stake?

Report a story for this election

Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.

Candidate survey

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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey.
Click here to view or fill out the survey.

About the district

See also: Washington County Public Schools, Maryland
Washington County Public Schools is located in Washington County, Md.

Washington County Public Schools is based in Hagerstown, the county seat of Washington County, Maryland. Washington County was home to 149,573 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[9] The district was the 11th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 22,495 students.[10]

Demographics

Washington County underperformed in comparison to the state of Maryland in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 19.5 percent of Washington County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 36.8 percent for Maryland as a whole. The median household income in Washington County was $55,609, compared to $73,538 for the state of Maryland. The poverty rate in Washington County was 12.4 percent, compared to 9.8 percent for the entire state.[9]

Racial Demographics, 2014[9]
Race Washington County (%) Maryland (%)
White 84.4 60.1
Black or African American 10.9 30.3
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3 0.6
Asian 1.7 6.4
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander 0.1 0.1
Two or More Races 2.6 2.6
Hispanic or Latino 4.3 9.3

Party registration, 2014[11]
Party Number of registered voters
Republican 38,742
Democratic 31,555
Unaffiliated 17,552
Libertarian 395
Other 330
Green 230
Total 88,804

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 'Washington County Public Schools' 'Maryland'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

Washington County Public Schools Maryland School Boards
School Board badge.png
Seal of Maryland.png
School Board badge.png

External links

Footnotes