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Katie Schwartz
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Katie Schwartz is an at-large representative on the South Washington County Schools school board in Minnesota. First elected in 2013, Schwartz won a new term in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Biography
Schwartz graduated from Park Senior High School. She and her husband have four children.[1]
Elections
2017
Five of the seven seats on the South Washington County Schools school board in Minnesota were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. Four seats were up for general election to regular four-year terms, and the fifth seat was up for special election to a two-year term due to a vacancy on the board.[2] In the race for the four-year terms, at-large incumbents Tracy Brunnette, Katie Schwartz, and Sharon H. Van Leer won re-election. Incumbent Katy McElwee-Stevens did not win re-election, as Patricia Driscoll won the fourth seat. Challengers Thor Halverson, Alexandra Hedberg, Douglas Hoffman, David Pyrz, and William Thurmes were defeated in that race. Heather Hirsch won the two-year term, defeating Wael Abdelkader, Sean Brown, Duane Girard, and Steve Lagoon.[3][4]
Results
| South Washington County Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Patricia Driscoll |
11.96% | 4,353 |
| Katie Schwartz Incumbent |
11.07% | 4,031 |
| Tracy Brunnette Incumbent |
10.92% | 3,977 |
| Sharon H. Van Leer Incumbent |
10.91% | 3,970 |
| William Thurmes | 10.04% | 3,656 |
| Alexandra Hedberg | 9.84% | 3,582 |
| Katy McElwee-Stevens Incumbent | 9.53% | 3,471 |
| Douglas Hoffman | 9.19% | 3,345 |
| David Pyrz | 8.97% | 3,267 |
| Thor Halverson | 7.01% | 2,553 |
| Write-in votes | 0.55% | 199 |
| Total Votes | 36,404 | |
| Source: South Washington County Schools, "School Board Meeting Minutes November 16, 2017," accessed December 8, 2017 | ||
Funding
The South Washington County Schools does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
2013
Katie Schwartz, Katy McElwee-Stevens, Tracy Brunnette, and Sharon H. Van Leer defeated ten other candidates to win four at-large seats with four-year terms in the general election on November 5, 2013.
Results
| South Washington County Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2013 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Katie Schwartz |
11.5% | 3,239 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tracy Brunnette Incumbent |
10.6% | 2,990 | |
| Nonpartisan | Katy McElwee-Stevens Incumbent |
9.4% | 2,648 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sharon H. Van Leer |
8.7% | 2,464 | |
| Nonpartisan | Molly Lutz | 8.7% | 2,458 | |
| Nonpartisan | David G. Kemper Incumbent | 8% | 2,267 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Thissen | 6.7% | 1,900 | |
| Nonpartisan | Michael P. Edman | 6.7% | 1,880 | |
| Nonpartisan | Raj Gandhi | 6.4% | 1,803 | |
| Nonpartisan | Frederick E. Hess | 5.9% | 1,679 | |
| Nonpartisan | Leilani Holmstadt | 5.5% | 1,567 | |
| Nonpartisan | Wayne A. Johnson | 5.5% | 1,541 | |
| Nonpartisan | John P. Griffin, II | 4.7% | 1,323 | |
| Nonpartisan | Safiyyah Cummings | 1.2% | 339 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.6% | 163 | |
| Total Votes | 28,261 | |||
| Source: Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Results for Selected Contests in School District No. 833 - South Washington County," accessed December 18, 2013 and South Washington County Bulletin, "Recount confirms Van Leer District 833 School Board victory," November 22, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Schwartz reported no contributions or expenditures to South Washington County Schools in the election.[5]
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify any official endorsements for Schwartz in the election.
Campaign themes
2017
Schwartz participated in the following survey conducted by the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. The survey questions appear bolded, and Schwartz's responses follow below.
What qualifies you to hold this position?
| “ | I have been on the school board for 4 years and during this time I have been available, transparent, and accountable. My kids go to school here so I have a vested interest in what happens here. There are tough questions that need to be asked and I will continue to ask them. If reelected I will continue to work for the people of this district.[6] | ” |
| —Katie Schwartz (2017)[7] | ||
What would your top priorities be if elected?
| “ | The budget continues to be an issue in the district. I will work towards financial stability and continue to be fiscally responsible with the tax payers money. Once we gain the financial stability we need we can use the funds to increase interventions that can help us close the achievement gap.[6] | ” |
| —Katie Schwartz (2017)[7] | ||
What do you think is the primary role of government?
| “ | The budget continues to be an issue in the district. I will work towards financial stability and continue to be fiscally responsible with the tax payers money. Once we gain the financial stability we need we can use the funds to increase interventions that can help us close the achievement gap.[6] | ” |
| —Katie Schwartz (2017)[7] | ||
2013
In a survey with United for MN School District 833, Schwartz provided the following campaign themes:
| “ | I would like to see equal representation for all communities within the district. Board members should be more aware of what the people they represent want. They should be straight forward with their intentions.
[...] I do support choice programs. We as a district need to give kids opportunities to thrive. All kids learn differently and instead of forcing kids to learn a certain way we need to adapt to how they learn. These programs give kids an opportunity to learn a second language and provide kids with a more rigorous course load to keep them from becoming bored in class because the regular course work is too easy for them.[6] |
” |
| —Katie Schwartz (2013)[8] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Katie Schwartz South Washington County Schools school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- South Washington County Schools, Minnesota
- South Washington County Schools elections (2017)
- South Washington County Schools elections (2013)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "About," accessed October 22, 2013
- ↑ South Washington County Bulletin, "Candidacy Filing Notice," June 26, 2017
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Results for Selected Contests in School District No. 833 - SOUTH WASHINGTON COUNTY," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings: 2017 Municipal and School District Elections," accessed August 16, 2017
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through e-mail from the Communications department of South Washington County Schools on January 3, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Twin Cities Pioneer Press, "Minnesota elections: South Washington County school board candidates," October 24, 2017
- ↑ United for MN School District 833, "Katie Schwartz," accessed October 22, 2013
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