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District of Columbia Board of Education
Election details
Filing deadline: August 8, 2018
General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent(s): Regular election Laura Wilson Phelan (Ward 1) Ruth Wattenberg (Ward 3) Mark Jones (Ward 5) Joe Weedon (Ward 6) Special election Vacant (Ward 4)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in District of Columbia
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2018 Impact of term limits in 2018 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
District of Columbia executive elections
District board of education

Washington, D.C. held an election for four of the nine seats on the state board of education on November 6, 2018.

Emily Gasoi won the open Ward 1 seat, incumbent Ruth Wattenberg won re-election to Ward 3, Zachary Parker won the open Ward 5 seat, and Jessica Sutter defeated incumbent Joe Weedon in Ward 6.

A special election was called for December 4, 2018, to replace Lannette Woodruff after she resigned from the Ward 4 seat.^[1]

The races, which were called "symbolic battlegrounds over the future of public education" by the Washington Post, saw over $150,000 poured into them. By August, the candidates had received more in contributions than candidates received in the full election cycle in the previous school board election.

Former D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty took away most of the board's power in 2007 and placed the appointment of most education positions in the hands of the mayor. But in 2018 the board election was held in the midst of the council considering two bills that would have removed some of that authority from the mayor's office.

One would have established the Office of State Superintendent for Education as an independent agency, extending the superintendent's term from four to six years. It would have taken away the mayor's ability to remove the superintendent and give the superintendent authority to hire his or her own personnel. Another proposal would have transferred control of the agency from mayor to the State Board of Education.^[2][3] Neither moved beyond a public hearing in December 2018.^[4][5]

Washington, D.C., also held elections for mayor, city council, attorney general, and shadow U.S. senator and representative. Click here for more information about those races. Click here for more information about the Washington, D.C., United States House of Representatives election.

Candidates and election results

Regular election

Ward 1

General election

General election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 1

Emily Gasoi defeated Jason Andrean and Callie Kozlak in the general election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 1 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Emily Gasoi (Nonpartisan)	53.2	14,597
		Jason Andrean (Nonpartisan)	31.2	8,547
		Callie Kozlak (Nonpartisan)	14.7	4,027
		Other/Write-in votes	0.9	252

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,423
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ward 3

General election

General election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 3

Incumbent Ruth Wattenberg defeated Dora Currea in the general election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 3 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ruth Wattenberg (Nonpartisan)	68.8	19,097
		Dora Currea (Nonpartisan)	30.0	8,320
		Other/Write-in votes	1.2	334

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,751
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Ward 5

General election

General election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 5

Zachary Parker defeated Adrian Jordan and William Lewis in the general election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 5 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zachary Parker (Nonpartisan)	52.3	14,558
		Adrian Jordan (Nonpartisan)	34.8	9,692
		William Lewis (Nonpartisan)	11.7	3,246
		Other/Write-in votes	1.2	331

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,827
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Ward 6

General election

General election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 6

Jessica Sutter defeated incumbent Joe Weedon in the general election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 6 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jessica Sutter (Nonpartisan)	61.9	22,843
		Joe Weedon (Nonpartisan)	36.8	13,580
		Other/Write-in votes	1.3	484

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,907
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Special election

Ward 4

A special election for the Ward 4 seat was called for December 4, 2018, after Lannette Woodruff resigned her position.^[1]

General election

Special general election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 4

Frazier O'Leary Jr. defeated Rhonda Henderson, Elani Lawrence, and Ryan Tauriainen in the special general election for District of Columbia State Board of Education Ward 4 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Frazier O'Leary Jr. (Nonpartisan)	45.5	2,456
		Rhonda Henderson (Nonpartisan)	37.7	2,035
		Elani Lawrence (Nonpartisan)	10.8	583
		Ryan Tauriainen (Nonpartisan)	5.6	303
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	17

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,394
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: District of Columbia elections, 2018

See also

• Elections
• Elections calendar
• United States Senate elections, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2018
• State executive official elections, 2018
• State legislative elections, 2018
• State judicial elections, 2018
• Mayoral election in Washington, D.C. (2018)
• Municipal elections in Washington, D.C. (2018)
• United States House of Representatives election in the District of Columbia, 2018

External links

Suggest a link

• District of Columbia State Board of Education website

Footnotes

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