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School boards in session: non-incumbent success rates in 2016
 Election Analysis |
Methods of election Opposition Non-incumbent success rates |
Success rates |
2015 incumbency analysis 2014 elections by the numbers 2014 incumbency analysis |
School board elections, 2016 |
A total of 2,325 non-incumbents ran for school board seats in the largest school districts by enrollment in 2016. They accounted for 62.40 percent of all school board candidates. A total of 804 non-incumbents won their election bids, taking 41.04 percent of the seats up for election. Of those winners, 121—15.05 percent—won their seats without opposition. A total of 562 seats were left open for new members when incumbents decided not to run for re-election. Non-incumbents took 558 of them without having to defeat an incumbent; the other four were either not filled in the election or else were won by informal candidates.
The following sections analyze non-incumbent success rates by state and by enrollment.
Methodology
In 2016, Ballotpedia covered school board elections in the top 1,000 school districts in the United States by enrollment. Of those districts, 648 held school board elections. These elections took place in 38 states. The 12 states where the largest districts by enrollment did not hold elections in 2016 were Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington. These states are not included in this report.
For more information on Ballotpedia's methodology for this report, check out the methodology in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board election analysis.
Analysis by state
Two states—Illinois and Iowa—had non-incumbents win 100 percent of the seats up for election in their largest school districts in 2016. Non-incumbents in Arkansas won the second-highest percentage of seats (68.42 percent), and non-incumbents in North Dakota won the third-highest percentage of seats (66.67 percent).
Delaware had the lowest percentage of non-incumbents elected. A total of 11.11 percent of seats were won by non-incumbents in that state. Wyoming had the second-lowest percentage with non-incumbents winning 12.50 percent of the seats up for election, and Oklahoma had the third-lowest percentage with non-incumbents winning 20.00 percent of the seats.
The map below details the percentage of non-incumbents who were elected to school boards in each state in 2016. States depicted in gray did not hold school board elections in 2016. More details about how many non-incumbents ran in each state can be found in the table below.
Analysis by enrollment
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A total of 50.00 percent of school board seats up for election in 2016 were won by non-incumbents in school districts with an enrollment size between 60,001 and 80,000 students, which was the highest percentage compared to other enrollment sizes. School districts with a student enrollment between 40,001 and 60,000 students had the second-highest percentage with non-incumbents winning 44.85 percent of seats up for election. |
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The lowest percentage of non-incumbents elected was found in school districts with an enrollment between 80,001 and 100,000 students. Non-incumbents won 26.92 percent of seats up for election in those districts. The second-lowest percentage occurred in school districts with an enrollment at or above 100,001 students, where non-incumbents won 30.56 percent of seats up for election.
The chart above details the percentage of non-incumbents who were elected to school board seats in 2016 by student enrollment size. More details about how many non-incumbents ran and how many seats they won by enrollment range can be found in the table below.
See also
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