Matthew Taylor (Arizona)

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Matthew Taylor

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Sunnyside Unified School District, At-large

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Personal

Birthplace

Tucson, Ariz.

Profession

Campaign manager for Dr. Matt Heinz

Contact

Campaign website

Matthew Taylor was an at-large member of the Sunnyside Unified School District in Arizona. He assumed office on January 1, 2021. He left office in 2022.

Taylor ran for election for an at-large seat of the Sunnyside Unified School District in Arizona. He won in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Taylor completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Since Joaquin Nunez withdrew from the race prior to the general election, Matthew Taylor was instead elected to the Sunnyside Unified School District school board on November 3, 2020

Biography

Matthew Taylor was born in Tucson, Arizona. As of 2020, he was pursuing an associate degree from Pima Community College with the expectation to receive that degree in 2022. His professional experience included working as a campaign manager for Pima County Board of Supervisors District 2 candidate Matt Heinz (D).

Elections

2020

See also: Sunnyside Unified School District, Arizona, elections (2020)

General election

General election for Sunnyside Unified School District, At-large (3 seats)

Incumbent Rebecca Quintero, Lisette Nunez, and Matthew Taylor defeated Joaquin Nunez (Unofficially withdrew) in the general election for Sunnyside Unified School District, At-large on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Rebecca Quintero (Nonpartisan)	29.9	14,133
✔	Submit photo	Lisette Nunez (Nonpartisan)	27.5	13,017
✔		Matthew Taylor (Nonpartisan)	20.2	9,562
	Submit photo	Joaquin Nunez (Nonpartisan) (Unofficially withdrew)	21.7	10,283
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	330

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 47,325
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

To view Taylor's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Matthew Taylor completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Taylor's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Matthew Taylor is a student at Pima Community College. He was born and raised on the south side of Tucson. He served on the board of directors for the local nonprofit "Tucson Pride" and was part of the planning and execution of the 2019 Tucson Pride Parade and Festival. Matthew attended the Sunnyside schools his entire life. However, on the first day of his junior year in high school, he was placed in the Arizona foster care system and it was that moment in which he decided that public service was where his heart lies. Matthew spent most of his time in the system on the run and in hiding, as he refused to live in group homes. And due to a lack of resources and his fear of being picked up by DCS, he dropped out of high school and earned his GED as an alternative. Since aging out of the state's foster care system, 20 year old Matthew has begun his candidacy for a seat on the Sunnyside School Board. The general election is on November 3rd, 2020. If elected, Matthew would take office as the youngest school board member in Sunnyside's history.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Investing in our foster care students
• Restoring confidence in our schools
• Amplifying youth voices

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Student retention
Energy efficiency

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was at Safeway as a courtesy clerk

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

First and foremost, school boards look out for students. Education is not a line item on the school board's agenda-it is the only item.

School boards are accessible to the community and accountable for the performance of their schools.

School boards ensure that students get the best education for the public dollars spent.

Who are your constituents?

Sunnyside Unified School District residents

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

By working very closely with all students, staff, educators and all other stakeholders in our district. Maintaining an open-door policy in terms of conversation. By promoting the attendance of school board meetings, engaging the community in this decision making process.

What will you do to build a better relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

I'd like to develop parent -champion programs district-wide, in order to build a stronger coalition of parents involved in their child's education.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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