Craig Townsend challenges Delia Baluin for Elk Grove Unified Area 4 school board seat
Baulin was a vacancy appointment in February 2025.
Craig J. Townsend is challenging appointed Elk Grove Unified School District trustee Delia Baluin for the Area 4 seat, campaigning on academic achievement, critical thinking, and accountability within the school system.
Baluin was appointed to the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education in February 2025 after Gina Jamerson vacated the Area 4 seat.
In his candidate statement filed with Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections and posted on social media, Townsend emphasized his educational background and said schools should help students achieve personal and intellectual growth while preparing them to become active and involved citizens.
Townsend social media post says he holds bachelor's and master's degrees from California State University, Sacramento, an associate degree from American River College and a certificate to teach in the California Community College system.
He said he has been involved in academic circles "off and on for over 30 years" and has taught private seminars during that time.
Townsend's candidate statement focuses heavily on academic standards and student achievement. He said improving education requires more than "getting back to basics."
Instead, Townsend said schools should promote and reward student comprehension, proficiency, critical thinking and mastery of academic subjects.
"If we truly want an educational system that is based upon teaching excellence, we must first of all demand it from ourselves, our school board, our administrators and teachers and then from our students," Townsend said in his statement.
Townsend said school board members, administrators and teachers should serve as role models for students and share responsibility for maintaining educational standards.
"I believe that our Educational System should bring out the very best in our young people, helping them to achieve the greatest amount of personal and intellectual growth possible given their own unique talents and abilities and to prepare them to be active involved citizens," he said.
The Area 4 race gives voters their first opportunity to decide whether Baluin should continue representing the area after joining the seven-member school board by appointment.
Townsend did not list a campaign email address or campaign website in his filing with Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections, but he has established a Facebook campaign page.
