Judge orders Wong, Reynoso back on the ballot in Hayward

Judge's ruling could become precedent for other school district's that require candidates to secure nomination signatures

Luis Reynoso and Tom Wong were added to the field of Hayward school board candidates seeking three at-large seats this fall.

ELECTION 2024

HAYWARD

—TEACHABLE MOMENT—Two candidates for the Hayward school board successfully petitioned an Alameda County Superior Court judge last week to allow them back on the fall ballot.

—Tom Wong filed an emergency writ of mandate and injunctive relief on Aug. 13, just days after the Alameda County Registrar of Voters deemed his filing for one of three at-large seats on the Hayward school board incomplete.

—Wong and several others who pulled papers prior to the Aug. 9 filing deadline, including former Hayward school boardmember Luis Reynoso, had not secure nomination papers with at least 100 valid signatures.

—But, Wong successfully argued in court that the state’s election code regarding nomination signatures does not apply to school board races.

—In addition, it remains unclear where the school district’s 100-signatures requirement for prospective candidates came from, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Michael Markman wrote.

—Reynoso, who is running for five seats this fall, including re-election to the Chabot-Las Positas Community College Board, believes the signature requirement was designed by the previous superintendent and applied by the current superintendent to “ensure candidates don’t topple over existing school boardmembers.”

—The ruling could affect future school board races in the county and across the state. Markman questioned whether school district’s have the authority to change their own bylaws involving signature requirements.

—“If anybody else takes our judgment and challenges nomination signature requirements in their jurisdiction, they will win,” Wong said, who is also a candidate for the Hayward City Council this November.

—While Wong and Reynoso are back on the ballot, current Hayward school boardmember Joe Ramos will remain on the sidelines.

—While the others had mostly completed their filings, Ramos lacked a declaration of candidacy signed before the Aug. 9 deadline and was deemed ineligible for the ballot by the registrar’s office.

—Earlier this year, Reynoso helped state Senate candidate Joe Grcar get a Sacramento Superior Court judge to order the Alameda County Registrar of Voters to recount his write-in votes in last March’s primary. They argued the state’s election code does not prohibit candidates from running in multiple races.

—In 2020, Reynoso won re-election to his Hayward school board and the Chabot-Las Positas Community College Board. But Hayward school district officials deemed the seats incompatible and asserted Reynoso had vacated his seat.

—Hayward USD appears to be readying a similar response in the event Wong wins seats on both the Hayward City Council and school board. During a hearing last week, counsel for the school district said they intend to move quickly to block him from the school board.

“I view this as a coup,” Wong said. “There’s a group at HUSD trying to overthrow government.”

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