California elections, 2015

2016 → ← 2014 The state of California held elections in 2015. In California, school board elections were held for 125 seats in 49 school districts, all of which feature among America's largest school districts by enrollment. Seven of the top one hundred cities by population also held elections in 2015. This was a lighter year for California as 2014 saw elections for U.S. House, state executives, state senate, state house, statewide ballot measures, local ballot measures, school boards and state courts. Below are the dates of note: 2015 elections and events in California Local ballot measure elections January 6, 2015 Candidate filing deadline for Sacramento special election and San Jose special election January 9, 2015 Candidate filing deadline for Los Angeles municipal primary elections February 16, 2015 Local ballot measure elections February 24, 2015 Los Angeles municipal primary elections and local measures March 3, 2015 Candidate filing deadline for Riverside municipal elections March 6, 2015 School board elections and local measures March 10, 2015 Local ballot measure elections March 24, 2015 School board elections Sacramento special election San Jose special election April 7, 2015 School board elections and local measures April 14, 2015 School board elections April 21, 2015 Local ballot measure elections May 5, 2015 School board elections Los Angeles municipal general elections Local ballot measure elections May 19, 2015 Riverside municipal general elections Local ballot measure elections June 2, 2015 Local ballot measure elections June 23, 2015 Local ballot measure elections August 25, 2015 School board elections San Francisco municipal elections Local ballot measure elections November 3, 2015 Local ballot measure elections December 15, 2015 Races to watch School boards Los Angeles Unified School District See also: Los Angeles Unified School District elections (2015) Four seats on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education were up for primary election on March 3, 2015, and general election on May 19, 2015. All four incumbents ran for re-election, with three of them facing opposition. The district administration was recently disrupted due to the former superintendent, Dr. John Deasy, resigning on October 15, 2014. Other issues included a federal grand jury investigation into a technology program that was partially started in 2014 and divisive contract negotiations with United Teachers Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Unified School District was the second-largest school district in the United States and served 659,639 students during the 2011-2012 school year. Local ballot measures See also: Local ballot measure elections in 2015 d San Francisco "Airbnb Initiative," Proposition F Elections by type School boards See also: School board elections, 2015 and California school board elections, 2015 A total of 46 California school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections in 2015 for 122 seats. Five of the elections were scheduled for April, one for May, and the remaining 40 districts held elections on November 3, 2015. Here are several quick facts about California's school board elections in 2015: The largest school district by enrollment with an election in 2015 was Los Angeles Unified School District with 655,455 K-12 students. The smallest school district by enrollment with an election in 2015 was Redwood City Elementary School District with 9,210 students. Eight districts tied for the most seats on the ballot in 2015 with four seats up for election. San Jacinto Unified School District had the fewest seats on the ballot in 2015 with one seat up for special election. The districts listed below served 1,453,222 K-12 students during the 2012-2013 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Click on the district names for more information on the district and its school board elections. 2015 California School Board Elections District Date Seats up for election Total board seats Student enrollment Glendale Unified School District 4/7/2015 2 5 26,179 Inglewood Unified School District 4/7/2015 4 5 14,207 Burbank Unified School District 4/14/2015 3 5 16,481 Arcadia Unified School District 4/21/2015 3 5 9,667 Pasadena Unified School District 4/21/2015 3 7 19,540 Los Angeles Unified School District 5/19/2015 4 7 655,455 ABC Unified School District 11/3/2015 4 7 20,835 Antelope Valley Union High School District 11/3/2015 2 5 24,816 Azusa Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 9,755 Baldwin Park Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 5 18,845 Bellflower Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 13,721 Bonita Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 5 9,870 Ceres Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 7 12,839 Compton Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 7 24,710 Covina-Valley Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 5 12,978 Downey Unified School District 11/3/2015 4 7 22,848 El Monte City School District 11/3/2015 2 5 9,304 El Monte Union High School District 11/3/2015 2 5 9,812 El Rancho Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 9,648 Hacienda La Puente Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 20,358 Lancaster School District 11/3/2015 2 5 14,713 Las Virgenes Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 11,200 Lynwood Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 5 15,029 Menifee Union School District 11/3/2015 2 5 9,955 Modesto City Schools 11/3/2015 4 7 29,978 Montebello Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 30,564 Monterey Peninsula Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 7 10,729 Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 7 19,770 Palmdale School District 11/3/2015 2 5 21,264 Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 11,864 Paramount Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 15,846 Pomona Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 27,186 Redwood City Elementary School District 11/3/2015 3 5 9,210 Riverside Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 5 42,560 Rowland Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 15,501 Salinas Union High School District 11/3/2015 4 7 13,879 San Bernardino City Unified School District 11/3/2015 4 7 54,102 San Jacinto Unified School District (special election) 11/3/2015 1 5 10,041 San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District 11/3/2015 2 5 11,456 Sequoia Union High School District 11/3/2015 3 5 9,247 Torrance Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 24,324 Turlock Unified School District 11/3/2015 4 7 13,956 Walnut Valley Unified School District 11/3/2015 2 5 14,661 West Covina Unified School District 11/3/2015 3 5 14,460 Whittier Union High School District 11/3/2015 2 5 13,486 William S. Hart Union High School District 11/3/2015 2 5 26,373 Ballot measures See also List of California ballot measures Municipal elections See: United States municipal elections, 2015#California Local ballot measures See: Local ballot measures, California January 6 • February 24 • March 3 • March 10 • March 24 • April 14 • May 5 • May 19 • June 2 • June 23 • August 25 • September 1 • November 3 • December 15 Voting information Links related to voting in California: For an overview and information on deadlines and updates to voting laws, please visit voting in California. For information on ballot access and signature requirements, please visit our page on ballot access requirements for political candidates in California. All voters are eligible to vote absentee in California. California provides early voting with no specific requirements as to who can vote early. There is online voter registration in California. Primary information California uses a top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election. In states that do not use a top-two system, all parties are usually able to put forward a candidate for the general election if they choose to. Unlike the top-two format used in some states (Louisiana and Georgia special elections for example), a general election between the top-two candidates in California occurs regardless of whether the top candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round of elections. As of June 2025, California was one of five states to use a top-two primary system, or a variation of the top-two system. See here for more information. For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article. Historical voter turnout 2014 In 2014, California saw 30.8 percent of eligible voters turn out to vote in the November general election. 2012 In 2012, California saw 55.8 percent of eligible voters turn out to vote in the November general election and 22.9 percent in the primary election. See also Elections portal Elections and events calendar Voter guides State Blue Books State Poll Opening and Closing Times State Election Result Canvassing State voter ID laws Voting in California Absentee voting Early voting Online voter registration Election terms and definitions Recent news This section links to a Google news search for the term "California + elections + 2015" California elections news feed Footnotes