School board elections, 2023
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 School Board Elections |
There are approximately 83,000 school board members and 13,000 districts in the United States. Over 97% of local school board members are elected, while board members in a small number of districts are appointed. Approximately 9,000 school districts across 35 states held regular school board elections in 2023.
In 2023, Ballotpedia covered elections in:
- All school districts in the 100 largest cities by population.
- The 200 largest school districts by student enrollment.
- And every school board election, as well as endorsements made, in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
More than 60% of 2023 local elections were uncontested, according to a Ballotpedia study of 10,000 local elections. In the sample of over 5,400 school board elections, about 53% were uncontested.
Our comprehensive analyses of school board elections in 10 states includes data on endorsements, partisan dynamics, open seats, incumbents defeated, and more.
In this article, you will find:
- Information on elections that Ballotpedia covered in 2023.
- Analysis of endorsements, partisan dynamics, open seats, and incumbents defeated in school board elections
- Our key school board elections of 2023
- Information on all school board elections that took place across the country in 2023.
- Historical election data.
Ballotpedia's 2023 school board election coverage by state[edit]
In 2023, Ballotpedia is covering regular elections for approximately 8,750 school board seats in 3,211 school districts across 28 states. This is 36% of all regular school board elections this year and includes comprehensive coverage in ten states:
Below are the districts holding elections in the top 100 largest cities or one of the top 200 largest school districts in the country. If you don't see your school district listed below, check our sample ballot lookup tool for your election information.
School board battleground elections 2023[edit]
Spring elections[edit]
The following election coverage was first featured in Hall Pass, Ballotpedia's weekly education-related newsletters.
November 7 elections[edit]
Ballotpedia provided in-depth coverage of 14 school board elections in November 2023. Click the links below to read about each of those elections. To read more election analysis across all school board elections in these states, click here.
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Colorado: Kansas: |
Minnesota: Ohio: |
Pennsylvania: Virginia: |
Washington: |
Endorsements in school board elections[edit]
Ballotpedia covered every 2023 school board election in the following 10 states: Colorado, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. These 10 states held 5,254 elections for 8,758 school board seats.
Most school board elections nationwide are nonpartisan, meaning candidates appear on the ballot without party labels. Endorsements provide voters with helpful information regarding candidates' stances and policy positions.
After each general election, Ballotpedia analyzed various electoral trends at the school board level in each of the 10 states included in this report. These analyses also examine election results through the lens of the endorsements made during the race and partisan affiliations of candidates, where that information is available.
Click the links below to view analyses by state:
Additionally, Ballotpedia tracked any state executive officeholder or candidate who endorsed a school board candidate in 2023. This included the following endorsers:
- Alaska: Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R).
- Arkansas: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R).
- Colorado: Gov. Jared Polis (D), Attorney General Phil Weiser (D), State Treasurer Dave Young (D), State Board of Regents Members Lesley Smith (D) and Ilana Spiegel (D), State Board of Education Members Steve Durham (R), Lisa Escarcega (D), Karla Esser (D), Rebecca McClellan (D), Kathy Plomer (D), Debora Scheffel (R), Angelika Schroeder (D) and Stephen Varela (R), and State Board of Education candidate Elliott Hood (D).
- Illinois: Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D).
- Kansas: State Board of Education Member Danny Zeck (R).
- Ohio: Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), State Treasurer Robert Sprague (R), State Auditor Keith Faber (R), State Board of Education Member Brendan Shea (NP), and State Board of Education candidate David Donofrio (NP).
- Oklahoma: Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell (R), Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters (R), and Commissioner of Labor Leslie Osborn (R).
- Virginia: Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R), Atty. Gen. Jason Miyares (R), gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger (D)
- Washington: Supt. of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal (NP), gubernatorial candidate Semi Bird (R)
Overview of 2023 school board elections in the U.S.[edit]
There are approximately 83,000 school board members and 13,000 districts across the country. Over 97% of local school board members are elected, while board members in a small number of districts are appointed.
Below is a survey of all districts holding school board elections in 2023, including those that fall outside of Ballotpedia's 2023 coverage scope. If you would like to help us expand our election coverage, please consider supporting Ballotpedia.
Districts holding 2023 elections[edit]
Approximately 9,000 school districts across 35 states had school board seats up for regular elections in 2023.
- The approximately 9,000 school districts with regular elections in 2023 represented 69% of all districts in the country.
- The approximately 9,000 school districts represented 88% of the 10,196 total districts within those 35 states.
School board elections are held on varying schedules depending on the district and state. In the 35 states that held school board elections in 2023, seats can be up for election on the following schedules:
- Annually
- Every two years in odd-numbered years
- A combination of districts with annual or odd-year elections and districts with even-year elections.
In 25 states, more than 90% of school districts will held regular school board elections in 2023.
Board seats up for election in 2023[edit]
Approximately 24,100 school board seats in those 35 states (out of 66,831 total) were up for regular election in 2023.
- Most school districts hold staggered elections, meaning that not all seats were up for election in any given year. Approximately 29% of all school board seats were up for election in 2023, while 71% were not.
- The approximately 24,100 seats represented 36% of the 66,831 total school board seats in the 35 states holding elections in 2023.
- Most districts had half or one-third of seats up for election in 2023, and others had a quarter or one-fifth of seats up.
School board election dates in 2023[edit]
Regular general school board elections in 2023 will take place on at least nine different dates. Some states will have school board elections on multiple dates. In some states, school board election dates can vary by district. School districts in at least 12 states could also hold primary elections.
- April 4 - five states
- April 18 - one state
- May 2 - two states
- May 6 - one state
- May 9 - two states
- May 16 - two states
- October 3 - one state
- November 7 - 16 states
- November 14 - one state
Turnout for off-cycle school board elections such as these is very low compared to elections in November of even-numbered years. This means that voters who do participate have a higher portion of control over who wins.
Party labels in school board elections[edit]
Most school board elections in the U.S. are nonpartisan, which means the party labels of candidates do not appear on the ballot. In two states with 2023 school board elections, school board candidates appear on the ballot with party labels identifying their partisan affiliation:
- Pennsylvania
- Connecticut
In four states with 2023 school board elections, state law allows both partisan and nonpartisan elections for school board members.
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
In the other 29 states with 2023 school board elections, school board elections are nonpartisan.
Methodology note: These estimates are based on state rules governing school board election dates in each state cross-referenced with district-specific school board member data. The estimates only count regular elections to fill expired terms. Estimates in some states are based on extrapolation from a sample of district-specific data. Some estimates assume random distribution across cycles of staggered school board seats. Estimates are rounded. It does not count any special elections to fill unexpired terms. There could be exceptions to the state-level rules used for these estimates for individual districts.
Historical election data[edit]
Methodology note: This report does not include write-in candidates unless an incumbent ran as a write-in.
From 2018 to 2024, Ballotpedia covered elections for 6,060 school board seats in 2,070 districts. Ballotpedia normally covers school board elections in the 200 largest school districts by student enrollment and the school districts that overlap the 100 largest cities by population. However, in 2019, we also covered all school districts up for election in the state of North Carolina. Those districts are included in this data.
We found that between 24% and 40% of elections were unopposed each year, that incumbents won between 51% and 61% of seats each year, and that between 79% and 89% of incumbents who sought re-election won each year.
Details on each year's election statistics can be found in the table below.
Seats won by incumbents and newcomers[edit]
Incumbents won a larger percentage of seats in the 2018 school board elections compared to the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 elections, 2023, and 2024.
Incumbency success rates[edit]
Incumbents who ran against challengers in 2019 had a higher contested success rate than those who ran against challengers in 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Incumbents in 2019 also had a higher overall success rate compared to the other four years.
Sample Ballot Lookup[edit]
- Enter your address. Enter your email if you would like to receive Ballotpedia's election news updates in your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we will never share your information.
- Select an upcoming election date, if there is more than one coming up in your area.
- View the list of candidates that will be on your ballot. Ballotpedia includes comprehensive election information for the largest 100 cities by population, as well as all state legislative, statewide, and congressional races across the nation. You can contact your state or local election administrator for an official sample ballot.
- Click on your candidates to read their biography, view past election results, read their campaign themes and responses to our candidate survey, and more. We also provide race overviews if you want additional background information. Where the office names are linked, you can click to learn more about the race in general.
Analysis of local elections[edit]
- See also: United States municipal elections, 2023
Ballotpedia covered municipal elections in 32 counties and 77 cities, including 40 mayoral elections, in 2023. As of 2023, Ballotpedia's coverage scope for local elections included elections on the ballot in the 100 largest U.S. cities by population, as well as elections for mayors, city council members, and district attorneys in each state capital.
Analysis[edit]
- Election results, 2023: Partisan balance of mayors of the 100 largest cities by population
- Partisanship in United States municipal elections
- United States municipal elections overview
- School board elections
- Local trial court judicial elections
- Local ballot measure elections
- Ballotpedia's Mid-Year Recall Report (2023)
- Ballotpedia's 2023 Recall Analysis
- Rematches in 2023 general elections
- Endorsements in school board elections, 2023
- Ballotpedia's Top 15 Elections to Watch, 2023
- Uncontested races by state
- Incumbent win rates by state
- Minor-party candidates who won more than the margin of victory
- Candidates with the same last names
- Trends in the margins of victory for incumbents of three or more terms, 2018-2024
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
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