Legislative School Board Caucus poised to grow with 33 current and former school and county board members running in 2016
Published: May 2, 2016
CSBA began convening an informal School Board Caucus in 2015, a group comprised of 14 current California Assemblymembers and Senators who formerly served as school and county board members. Although three members of the Caucus are either terming out or not seeking reelection in 2016, membership in the Caucus is still poised to grow after the upcoming June and November elections.
Seventeen current school district and county trustees and five former trustees have been certified by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla as candidates for the California Assembly and Senate on the June 7 primary ballot – the list includes two former CSBA Presidents and three current Delegates. These 22 candidates will be running for a total of 15 seats with the Legislature, with 11 of the candidates vying for only four seats.
Along with the 11 current members of the School Board Caucus who are seeking reelection, a total of 33 current and former school trustees will be running for 26 seats in the Legislature in 2016.
CSBA’s 2013 President Cindy Marks of Modesto City Schools is running to succeed Asm. Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto) in Assembly District 12. This five-person race for Assembly District 12 also features Harinder Grewal, a former trustee of Turlock USD.
David Pollock, CSBA’s 2003 President and former trustee of Moorpark USD, is in a six-person race for Senate District 27, to succeed Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills).
Current CSBA Delegates running for the Legislature include County Delegate Suzanne Jones of Placer COE, in a crowded Assembly District 6 race to succeed Asm. Beth Gaines (R-El Dorado Hills) and Region 11 Delegate Monique Limón of Santa Barbara USD, to succeed Asm. Das Williams (D-Carpinteria) in Assembly District 37.
Region 20 Delegate Andres Quintero of Alum Rock USD is also running in Assembly District 27 – a race which features four sitting school trustees. Joining Quintero in the race are fellow Alum Rock USD member Esau Ruiz Herrera, Van Le of East Side Union HSD and Darcie Green of Santa Clara COE. All four are running to succeed Asm. Nora Campos (D-San Jose).
Other races with multiple school board members running include Assembly District 48, where Blanca Rubio of Baldwin Park USD, Armando Barajas of Bassett USD and Cory Ellenson of Glendora USD are all vying to succeed Asm. Roger Hernandez (D-West Covina), who himself is also a former school board member of Rowland USD. The Assembly District 55 race features Phillip Chen of Walnut Valley USD and former West Covina USD trustee Mike Spence, both seeking the seat vacated by Asm. Ling-Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar), who is running for the 29th Senate District.
While the majority of the 2016 school trustee candidates are in races for an open seat, two will enter into two-person races against incumbents. Scott Markovich of Rim of the World USD is challenging Asm. Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia) in Assembly District 33, and Abigail Medina of San Bernardino USD is running head-to-head against Asm. Marc Steinorth (R-Rancho Cucamonga) in Assembly District 40.
Christy Smith of Newhall USD is running to replace Asm. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) in Assembly District 38 and former Davis Joint USD trustee Don Saylor is seeking to replace Asm. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) in Assembly District 4. Assemblymembers Dodd and Wilk are both running for the Senate in Districts 3 and 21, respectively.
Additional trustee candidates include Jordan Cunningham of Templeton USD running to succeed Asm. Katcho Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo) in Assembly District 35, Andrew Blumenfeld of La Canada-Flintridge USD running to succeed Asm. Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) in Assembly District 43 and Alexia Deligianni-Brydges of Orange USD running to succeed Asm. Donald Wagner (R-Irvine) in Assembly District 68. Former San Francisco USD board member Jane Kim is also running in Senate District 11 to succeed Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).
Note: This article is solely for informational purposes and does not indicate endorsement or preference for any candidate – CSBA does not support or oppose any individual candidates for office.