In Partnership with 74

NEWS

To campaign or not? Tactics vary in LAUSD school board race

LA School Report | May 19, 2014


Your donation will help us produce journalism like this. Please give today.

Not all of the seven candidates vying for the vacant seat on the Los Angeles Unified school board are turning up the heat as the special election on June 3 heads to the finish line.

To reach voters in South LA’s District 1, which as been without a board member since Marguerite LaMotte died in December, four of the candidates report they are campaigning by sending out direct mail pieces, knocking on doors, sending out emails or making phone calls. The other three are doing none of the above.

The City Ethics Commission requires candidates to report campaign communications as soon as more than 200 voters have been reached. So far, only four have complied:

  • Rachel Johnson a teacher and city council member from Gardena with teacher union support, reports distributing one direct mail piece.
  • George McKenna, a retired administrator supported by the principals union reports two walk pieces, a mailer and an email blast.

The remaining candidates, Genethia Hudley-Hayes a former school board member, Omarosa Manigault, best known as a contestant on “The Apprentice,” and Hattie McFrazier, a retired teacher who is also endorsed by the teacher’s union, have reported no communication activity at all.  Despite an absence of a campaign, they showed no sign of dropping out of the race.

Read Next