Ten Contenders for Natomas School Board Seats

BY BRANDY TUZON BOYD
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz
Updated 2:55 p.m. on August 10, 2020

The race for Natomas Unified school board is on and the ballot will be crowded come Election Day.

Ten candidates have qualified to run for three available school board seats in the 2020 election. That’s double the number of candidates who have sought a seat on the Natomas school board since 2012 when there were also 10 candidates.

This year, incumbents Susan Heredia, Scott Dosick and Micah Grant face a pool of seven newcomers. Heredia was first elected to the Natomas Unified school board in 2000, Dosick in 2012 and Grant in 2016.

Candidates RayNette Johnson, Lisa Wells, Mariana Corona Sabeniano, Christopher Alvarez, Monica Barrios, Sumiti Mehta and Ericka Harden have all qualified for the Natomas Unified school board race, according to a list from Sacramento County Elections.

The Natomas Unified school board race has been swayed in the past by voter turnout and undervotes. An undervote occurs when the number of choices selected by a voter in a specific contest is less than the maximum number allowed for that contest. For example, voting for only two candidates when voting for three is allowed creates one undervote.

On Nov. 3, registered voters who reside within the Natomas school district’s boundaries can vote for three different school board candidates. There are currently 44,987 registered voters within the district.

The three candidates who get elected will face the impact COVID-19 has had, and likely will continue to have, on the Natomas Unified School District’s operations and finances. The district has already cut millions from its budget in response to significant reductions in school funding from the state.

The filing period to declare candidacy for the Natomas school board closed at 5 p.m. on Friday, August 7.

The Natomas Buzz will be covering the 2020 Natomas Unified school board election and invites readers to submit questions for all candidates to answer by email to [email protected].