Danbury Public Schools elections (2015)

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2015 Danbury Public Schools Elections

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General Election date:
November 3, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district
Method of election
Elections
Key deadlines
Additional elections
External links
See also
Connecticut
Danbury Public Schools
Fairfield County, Connecticut ballot measures
Local ballot measures, Connecticut

Six seats on the Danbury Public Schools Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 3, 2015. Incumbents Gladys Cooper (D), Annrose Fluskey-Lattin (R), Richard Hawley (R), David Metrena (R), Robert Taborsak (D) and Phyllis Tranzillo (D) seats were up for election. The partisan breakdown of the board prior to this election was six Republicans and five Democrats.

Cooper was nominated by the Democratic Party to run for another term on the board. Also receiving Democratic nominations were Frederick Karrat and Holly Robinson.[1] Sitting Republicans Fluskey-Lattin, Hawley and Metrena were nominated to run for re-election along with Pat Johnston, Emanuela Palmares and Dan Rosemark.[2] All of the Republican candidates were also endorsed by the Connecticut Independent Party (CIP).

Due to the minority party requirement, the three Democrats won election to the board, despite receiving fewer votes than any of the Republican/CIP candidates. The top vote recipient in the election was Johnston, who was followed by incumbents Hawley and Metrena. Metrena narrowly won re-election, with just eight votes separating him from fourth-place Republican Rosemark. Fluskey-Lattin lost her seat on the board, placing last among the Republicans. Overall, this election did not change the partisan composition of the board, but it did bring three new faces to the body.

## Contents

* 1 About the district
* 1.1 Demographics
* 2 Voter and candidate information
* 2.1 Convention nomination
* 2.2 Primary petition
* 2.3 Independent petitioning
* 2.4 Write-in candidates
* 3 Elections
* 3.1 2015
* 3.1.1 Candidates
* 3.1.2 Election results
* 3.1.3 Endorsements
* 3.1.4 Campaign finance
* 3.1.5 Past elections
* 3.1.6 2013
* 4 Key deadlines
* 5 Additional elections on the ballot
* 6 Recent news
* 7 See also
* 8 External links
* 9 Footnotes

## About the district[edit]

See also: Danbury Public Schools, Connecticut

Danbury Public Schools is located in Fairfield County, Conn.

Danbury Public Schools is located in southwestern Connecticut in Fairfield County. The county was home to 945,438 residents in 2014, according to estimates by the United States Census Bureau.[3] Danbury Public Schools was the eighth-largest school district in Connecticut and served 10,612 students in the 2012–2013 school year.[4]

### Demographics[edit]

Fairfield County outperformed Connecticut as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2009–2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 44.8 percent of county residents aged 25 and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 36.5 of state residents. The median household income for Fairfield County was $82,283, compared to $69,461 for Connecticut. The percentage of county residents below poverty level was 9.1 percent, while it was 10.2 percent for the state residents.[3]

|  Racial Demographics, 2013[3]

Race  | Fairfield County(%)  | Connecticut (%)
White | 80.2 | 81.6
Black or African American | 12.0 | 11.3
American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5 | 0.5
Asian | 5.3 | 4.3
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1
Two or More Races | 1.9 | 2.1
Hispanic or Latino | 18.2 | 14.7

|  Presidential Voting Pattern,
Danbury, Connecticut[5]

Year  | Democratic Vote (%)  | Republican Vote (%)
2012 | 58.4 | 40.5
2008 | 59.4 | 39.8
2004 | 51.3 | 47.2
2000 | 55.1 | 39.8

## Voter and candidate information[edit]

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Connecticut

The Danbury Board of Education is composed of 11 partisan members who are elected at-large to four-year terms in odd-numbered years. There was no primary, and the general election was November 3, 2015. State law required a minimum of one-third of the board's seats to be held by minority parties following each election.[6]

There were several routes by which candidates could get on the ballot, which varied depending on the political affiliation of the candidate seeking office. The timeline below outlines the entire election process. A full written description of these events can be read in the collapsed section below the timeline.

Click [show] on the right for the written description of Connecticut's method of school board member selection.

### Convention nomination[edit]

The first way major party candidates could get onto the ballot was to receive the nomination of their political party during the endorsement period, which ran from July 21, 2015, to July 28, 2015. These endorsements were made by convention of the local party members, and the candidates had to receive at least 15 percent of the votes cast by convention delegates to be nominated.[7]

Parties could endorse as many candidates as there were seats up for election. Major party endorsements were certified on July 29, 2015. Minor parties that were qualified for the board races were also able to endorse candidates. The deadline for minor parties to endorse candidates was September 2, 2015.

### Primary petition[edit]

If a candidate who wished to run for a major political party did not receive the party's endorsement, he or she was required to file a primary petition to oppose the endorsed candidate by August 12, 2015. In order for the petition to be deemed sufficient and a primary election to be held, the petitioner was required to submit valid signatures totaling 1 percent of the votes cast for the same office at the previous election for that office or 7,500, whichever was smaller.

Multiple candidates of a political party could petition for a primary together. Only as many candidates could advance from it for each party as there were seats up for election in the general election.

### Independent petitioning[edit]

Candidates who wished to run without a party affiliation had to file in a similar manner to candidates with a partisan affiliation. Such independent candidates, however, could not file in groups like partisan petitioners and had to file individually. They had to meet the same signature requirements as partisan petitioning candidates but without the possibility of a primary election.

### Write-in candidates[edit]

The deadline for write-in candidates to file for the general election was October 20, 2015. Write-in candidates could not designate an affiliation with a political party, and no candidate who was nominated by a major or minor party or by petition could run as a write-in candidate.[8]

## Elections[edit]

### 2015[edit]

#### Candidates[edit]

Gladys Cooper | Frederick Karrat | Holly Robinson

|
|

* Incumbent

|  |

Annrose Fluskey-Lattin | Richard Hawley | David Metrena

* Incumbent

* Incumbent

* Incumbent

Pat Johnston | Emanuela Palmares | Dan Rosemark

|  |

* Editor, Tribuna Newspaper
* Child development associate, Western Kentucky University

#### Election results[edit]

Danbury Public Schools, At-Large, General Election, 2015

Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes
| R/CIP |  Pat Johnston | 12.6% | 4,844
| R/CIP |  Richard Hawley Incumbent | 12.5% | 4,840
| R/CIP |  David Metrena Incumbent | 12.0% | 4,640
| R/CIP | Dan Rosemark | 12.0% | 4,632
| R/CIP | Emanuela Palmares | 11.2% | 4,309
| R/CIP | Annrose Fluskey-Lattin Incumbent | 10.4% | 4,015
| Democratic  |  Gladys Cooper Incumbent | 10.3% | 3,962
| Democratic  |  Holly Robinson | 10.2% | 3,925
| Democratic  |  Frederick Karrat | 8.8% | 3,412
Total Votes | 38,579
Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Prescribed Form for Return of Votes Cast at a Municipal Election: Danbury," Novemeber 3, 2015

#### Endorsements[edit]

There were no official endorsements in this election.

#### Campaign finance[edit]

The Democratic candidates all filed as exempt from forming a candidate committee as they ran as a slate that was solely funded by the Danbury Democratic Town Committee. The six Republican-CIP candidates also filed as exempt as they ran as a slate that was solely funded by the Danbury Republican Town Committee.[9]

#### Past elections[edit]

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

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#### 2013

See also: Danbury Public Schools elections (2013)
| Danbury Public Schools, General Election, 4-year term, 2013

Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes
| Republican  | Eileen Alberts Incumbent | 15.8% | 6,834
| Republican  | Michael Ferguson | 14.2% | 6,162
| Republican  | Ralph Pietrafesa | 13.5% | 5,869
| Democratic  | Kathleen Molinaro Incumbent | 12.9% | 5,593
| Republican  |  Gary Falkenthal Incumbent | 11.7% | 5,061
| Democratic  | Richard Jannelli Incumbent | 11.2% | 4,851
| Republican  |  Charles Alpuche  | 10.7% | 4,624
| Democratic  |  Mayra Olavarria  | 10.1% | 4,376
Total Votes | 43,370
Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Municipal Elections - November 5, 2013," accessed December 17, 2013

## Key deadlines[edit]

The following dates were key deadlines for the 2015 Connecticut school board elections:[10]

Deadline  | Event

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July 21-28, 2015 | Political parties' candidate endorsement period
July 29, 2015 | Political parties' candidate endorsements certified
August 12, 2015 | Primary petitions for opposition candidates of a major party due
September 2, 2015 | Last day that a minor party may endorse a candidate
October 20, 2015 | Write-in candidate filing deadline
November 3, 2015 | General Election Day
November 4, 2015 | General election results certified

## Additional elections on the ballot[edit]

See also: Connecticut elections, 2015

Danbury residents also voted for mayor, treasurer, town clerk and town council members.[11]

## Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Danbury Public Schools' Connecticut. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Danbury Public Schools elections (2015) - Google News

## See also[edit]

Danbury Public Schools | Connecticut | School Boards

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|

* Danbury Public Schools elections (2013)

* List of school districts in Connecticut

* Connecticut school board elections, 2015
* Public education in Connecticut
* Local ballot measures, Connecticut

* School board elections, 2015
* School board elections, 2014
* School board election data analysis, 2015
* School board election data analysis, 2014

## External links[edit]

| Suggest a link

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* Danbury Public Schools
* City of Danbury
* Connecticut Secretary of State
* Danbury Democratic Town Committee
* Danbury Republican Town Committee
* Independent Party of Connecticut
* General election sample ballot

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Facebook, "Danbury Dems Wall Post," July 28, 2015
2. ↑ Facebook, "Danbury CT Republican Town Committee Wall Post," August 5, 2015
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census Bureau, "State & County QuickFacts, "Fairfield County, Connecticut," accessed August 5, 2015
4. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 15, 2015
5. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed October 14, 2013
6. ↑ Connecticut General Assembly, "Chapter 146: Sec. 9-167a. Minority representation," accessed January 27, 2015
7. ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part III, Section 9-400," accessed February 26, 2014
8. ↑ Connecticut Statutes, "Chapter 153, Part I, Section 9-373a," accessed October 31, 2013
9. ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Jeffrey M. Dunkerton, Assistant Town Clerk of Danbury, Connecticut," October 29, 2015
10. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "NOVEMBER 3, 2015 MUNICIPAL ELECTION CALENDAR – AMENDED," January 5, 2015
11. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Danbury, Connecticut, Municipal Election November 3, 2015," accessed November 9, 2015

2015 Danbury Public Schools Elections

Fairfield County, Connecticut
Election date:| November 3, 2015
Candidates:|  Incumbent, Gladys Cooper • Frederick Karrat • Holly Robinson
Incumbent, Annrose Fluskey-Lattin • Incumbent, Richard Hawley • Incumbent, David Metrena • Pat Johnston • Emanuela Palmares • Dan Rosemark
Important information:| Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot

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State of Connecticut
Hartford (capital)

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