In addition to choosing a new Mayor and City Attorney and deciding who should fill the City Council’s two-at large positions, Seattle voters will have the responsibility this autumn of selecting three individuals to serve on the Board of Directors of Seattle Public Schools, which is a separate local government that nevertheless shares the same boundaries as the City of Seattle.
Boardmembers of Seattle Public Schools are elected from districts using a two-step process. In the Top Two/elimination round, if there are more than two candidates for a director position, the field is winnowed by just the voters who live in the district that the field of candidates are from. Then, in the general election/runoff round, the two finalists from each district compete citywide.
Because the candidates for school board are now running citywide, as opposed to just in their districts, we were able to include all three races in our general election survey of the Seattle electorate, which finished fielding a few days ago. While majorities or near majorities aren’t sure who they are voting for in each of the three races, there is a clear frontrunner in each contest.
- For Director District #4, Vivian Song Maritz received 23% support in the survey. She has a ten point lead over Laura Marie Rivera, who received 13% support, with 53% of voters not sure.
- For Director District #5, Michelle Sarju received 36% support in the survey. She has a twenty-six point lead over Dan Harder, who received 10%, with 49% of voters not sure.
- For Director District #7, Brandon Hersey received 37% support in the survey. He has a thirty-three point lead over Genesis Williamson, who received 4% and isn’t actively campaigning. 57% of voters are not sure.
The other four school director positions are not on the ballot this year.

A visual of NPI’s general election poll findings for the three Seattle School Board races on the November 2021 ballot
Our general election poll, which was conducted for the Northwest Progressive Institute by Change Research, has a modeled margin of error of 4.1% at the 95% confidence interval. All 617 respondents participated online. The poll was in the field from Tuesday, October 12th, 2021 through Friday, October 15th, 2021.
Here are the exact questions that we asked, and the responses that we received:
QUESTION: The candidates for Seattle School District No. 1, Director District No. 4 are listed below in the order that they will appear on the November general election ballot. Who are you voting for?
[See list as it was shown to respondents]
INITIAL ANSWERS:
- Not sure: 73%
- Vivian Song Maritz: 17%
- Laura Marie Rivera: 9%
FOLLOW-UP QUESTION ASKED OF UNDECIDED VOTERS ONLY: If you had to choose, who would you vote for?
ANSWERS FROM UNDECIDED VOTERS:
- [Still] Not sure: 78%
- Vivian Song Maritz: 7%
- Laura Marie Rivera: 5%
- Would not vote: 11%
COMBINED ANSWERS, BOTH QUESTIONS:
- Not sure: 57%
- Vivian Song Maritz: 23%
- Laura Marie Rivera: 13%
- Would not vote: 8%
QUESTION: The candidates for Seattle School District No. 1, Director District No. 5 are listed below in the order that they will appear on the November general election ballot. Who are you voting for?
[See list as it was shown to respondents]
INITIAL ANSWERS:
- Not sure: 59%
- Michelle Sarju: 32%
- Dan Harder: 9%
FOLLOW-UP QUESTION ASKED OF UNDECIDED VOTERS ONLY: If you had to choose, who would you vote for?
ANSWERS FROM UNDECIDED VOTERS:
- [Still] Not sure: 83%
- Michelle Sarju: 7%
- Dan Harder: 2%
- Would not vote: 8%
COMBINED ANSWERS, BOTH QUESTIONS:
- Not sure: 49%
- Michelle Sarju: 36%
- Dan Harder: 10%
- Would not vote: 5%
QUESTION: The candidates for Seattle School District No. 1, Director District No. 7 are listed below in the order that they will appear on the November general election ballot. Who are you voting for?
[See list as it was shown to respondents]
INITIAL ANSWERS:
- Not sure: 71%
- Brandon K. Hersey: 26%
- Genesis Williamson: 3%
FOLLOW-UP QUESTION ASKED OF UNDECIDED VOTERS ONLY: If you had to choose, who would you vote for?
ANSWERS FROM UNDECIDED VOTERS:
- [Still] Not sure: 81%
- Brandon K. Hersey: 9%
- Genesis Williamson: 1%
- Would not vote: 9%
COMBINED ANSWERS, BOTH QUESTIONS:
- Not sure: 53%
- Brandon K. Hersey: 37%
- Genesis Williamson: 4%
- Would not vote: 6%
Here’s on a primer on each of the matchups.
District #4 (Magnolia, Queen Anne, Ballard)
The incumbent Director, Erin Dury, lost her campaign for reelection back in August. Dury was appointed to take the place of Eden Mack, who resigned several months ago. Two of Dury’s challengers are now in the runoff and hoping to win a full term: Vivian Song Maritz and Laura Marie Rivera.
Maritz is a child of working-class immigrants, started school as an English as a Second Language student, and was helped by a public school teacher to identify and address her hearing disability. She is the first woman in her family to graduate from college. She has a degree from Harvard, works in the finance industry and serves on the Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council.
Rivera has a Master’s in Education and has worked in education and the performing arts for thirty years. She is a PTA volunteer and wants more transparency about the policy and governance of the school district. She also advocates for accessibility for students of all abilities and prioritizes Black, Indigenous and people of color voices in school communications. She advocates for both college prep and career-based education. She has four children in school.
District #5 (Capitol Hill, International District, First Hill, Leschi, Madison, Downtown and Central Area)
Michelle Sarju came in first in the Top Two election back in the summer. Her opponent is Dan Harder, who has run for a number of other offices and lost. Whoever wins will succeed Zachary DeWolf, who chose not to run again.
Sarju is Black and has worked as a social worker and midwife and is currently managing a children’s healthcare program for King County Public Health.
Sarju has a Masters of Social Work and has trained and worked as a midwife. She now works for Public Health — Seattle and King County and is focusing her campaign on educational equity. She says that while COVID-19 has pushed students and families into survival mode, the deficiencies in Seattle Public Schools, particularly for Black students and other students of color, go back a lot further. She wants to see the district invest in anti-racist curriculum and employ evidence-based ways of monitoring student success. She also wants to work to support SEL (Social-Emotional Support) and mental health issues, phasing out standardized testing and eliminate the educational opportunity gap.n.
Harder is a mechanical engineer who thinks Seattle Public Schools’ approach to teaching anti-racism will offer students a “gross mischaracterization of past discrimination and current disparities,” and will spread lies throughout the public school system. He argues the problems in Seattle Public Schools can be traced to bad policy as opposed to mass oppression and systemic racism.
District #7 (South Seattle, encompassing neighborhoods south of I‑90, not including West Seattle)
Brandon Hersey is the only candidate left in all three races to be seeking reelection. He was appointed to the Board about eighteen months ago after director Betty Patu stepped down. At that time, he beat out about fifteen other candidates for the appointment. But at the conclusion of Filing Week, Hersey ended up with just one opponent, who did not launch an active campaign.
Hersey is a resident of Rainier Beach and an educator in the Federal Way School District. He is the only educator on the school board and says that gives him insights into the impact a school system can have on a child’s life.
Hersey says COVID-19 has widened Seattle’s “already staggering opportunity gap” and is calling on the district to do better for Black and Brown children and for those from other marginalized communities. He has also said that he would like to end the ability for individual PTAs to fund staff positions and wants to shift resources within the district as part of addressing systemic inequality.
Genesis Williamson did not submit a biography or photograph for inclusion the voter’s pamphlet and, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission, has filed a “discontinued campaign” report.
Concluding notes
If all three frontrunners win their races, Seattle Public Schools will have a board consisting of two African Americans, one Asian American, one Mexican American, one Native American, and two White/Caucasian directors.
Hersey would be the only male director.
The district is currently in the midst of an executive leadership transition. The current board opted against keeping Denise Juneau as Superintendent, and selected Dr. Brent Jones to serve as the interim Superintendent while it searches for a permanent successor. The search is expected to conclude next spring and a vote on selecting a new Superintendent will be held by the end of the school year.
Whoever wins will be seated on the board by the end of the current calendar year.
NPI is not aligned with any of these school board candidates and does not have an endorsement for any of these positions, or any involvement in an independent expenditure supporting or opposing anyone.
Voting in the November 2021 general will end on November 2nd. Ballots must carry a 11/02/2021 postmark or be in a dropbox by 8 PM to count.
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