Rita Rakestraw may run again for a seat on the Wake County school board.
Rakestraw, who lost the District 1 race in October to Chris Malone, said Monday she's put her campaign committee on hiatus as she mulls whether to run again. One indication that she may run again is that her final campaign report shows she still has $9,670.70 left of the $29,634.74 she had raised.
Rakestraw had raised the most money of any school board candidate last year although John Tedesco spent more than her.
Rakestraw got more money than Malone, who had raised $18,186 and spent $18,056.12.
But Malone had the help of mailers from both the Wake Schools Community Alliance and the Wake County Republican Party.
Rakestraw had the help of mailers from the Wake County Democratic Party and the indirect assistance from the TV attack ad from Wake Citizens for Good Government.
Rakestraw got 35.6 percent of the vote. Malone got 58.4 percent. Debbie Vair got 5.9 percent.
"I would not have done anything differently, but I would hope that the voting public is aware of how important every vote is," Rakestraw said.
Jack Nichols, chairman of the Wake County Democratic Party, noted that Rakestraw had gotten 2,397 votes compared to the 1,493 votes that Lori Millberg had received in October 2005. Millberg would later get 3,055 votes to win the runoff.
Malone's term doesn't expire until 2013. But whether Rakestraw remains in District 1 could change after redistricting in 2011.
Unsuccessful candidates don't usually win when they run again for the school board. The last time a candidate won on the second try was in 1997 when Kathryn Watson Quigg took the seat that she had previously run for in 1993.
Comments
"I think it was because so
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 13:13 — user12345"I think it was because so much of the Republican donations came from 2 conservative businessmen - one who has actively supported competition for public schools. "
So, could the Republicans be trying to ruin public school using incompetent candidates to grow their private sector offering ... diabolical ...
Hmm...
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 14:18 — Bob_SconceThat's an interesting strategy. Are the Democrats using the same technique to privatize the entire federal government?
"So, could the Republicans
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 13:30 — woodstock"So, could the Republicans be trying to ruin public school using incompetent candidates to grow their private sector offering ... diabolical ..."
If you ever wonder why you have no relevance or influence in the debate about WCPSS, it is because of inane comments just like that.
Rakestraw got more money
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 12:06 — Duhhuh666Rakestraw got more money than Malone, who had raised $18,186 and spent $18,056.12.
Rakestraw also spent more money than Malone and lost by a large margin. Why dont we have articles detailing who the donors to Rakestraw are. The only articles are ones written to make it look like the winning canidates won because of the money they had. Can we have more details on the Democrat partys influence on the school board election? Why do you only give details on Republicans? I eagerly await such an article.
Rakestraw's union donations
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 12:45 — KeungHui (author)Rakestraw's union donations were reported on during the campaign. What made the donations from Pope and Luddy so noteworthy is that they were so far in excess of anyone else. The only other people who hit $4,000 were family members of Chris Malone. There were no Democratic donations that were even in the ballpark compared to Luddy and Pope. Comparing a $200 donation from Smedes York to $23,000 from Bob Luddy is not the same thing.
Stan Norwalk and Mayor Meeker!
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 14:13 — JanisTangoKeung...how much did Stan Norwalk and Mayor Meeker give to Rita or to the candidates in general?
Counting donations to the
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 15:01 — KeungHui (author)Counting donations to the Wake County Democratic Party, Meeker gave $1,000 and Norwalk gave $903.25.
I'd have to recheck but
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 14:25 — KeungHui (author)I'd have to recheck but we're probably talking about less than $1,000 apiece.
I also noticed the lack of
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 12:29 — jenmanI also noticed the lack of reporting on Rakestraw's donors. Lots of donations from DC and union leaders/groups. Why wasn't there an article on why so many people from out of state were interested in this election? I found her donor list very odd.
Can we get an article
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 17:27 — Duhhuh666Can we get an article detailing where Rakestraws money came from? I am more concerned with out of state (especially for a county election) and union money than money donated by local businessmen. Why didnt she spend more money campaigning? Its odd that she only spent 2/3 of what she raised.
http://www.newsobserver.com/n
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 17:51 — KeungHui (author)http://www.newsobserver.com/news/counties/wake_county/story/121841.html?storylink=misearch
Rakestraw lost and got a bunch of small inidividual donations from groups. If she had won it would have been more of an issue.
I think it was because so
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 12:10 — carson79I think it was because so much of the Republican donations came from 2 conservative businessmen - one who has actively supported competition for public schools. This was remarkable no matter how you see the issue.
I think Hui did blog on some of the Democratic or business and community leader types who donated for pro diversity candidates.