California Superintendent Race Is Over: Shaw Concedes as Barrera Wins by Nearly 15 Points
The race for California Superintendent of Public Instruction is over. Sonja Shaw, the Republican president of the Chino Valley Unified school board, conceded late on November 4 to Richard Barrera, the Democratic president of the San Diego Unified school board. In the latest returns on the morning of November 5, Shaw trailed Barrera by nearly 15 percentage points. Chino Valley sits in San Bernardino County and Barrera's district is in San Diego; that both candidates for the statewide office were local school board presidents was a distinction of this year's race.
In a statement shared on social media, Shaw said: "Last night voters made their choice. I would be lying if I said my heart wasn't heavy. As a mother and a protector of children, I feel deeply saddened for the kids. They are the ones who deserve so much better." She said the same people have had their hands on the education system for decades while children kept falling behind, and that she believed this election was an opportunity to change that. "I don't know exactly what God has next, but I know He isn't finished," she said.
The money gap was plain: Shaw's campaign raised about $595,000 and Barrera's about $812,000, while the California Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers union, spent an additional $8.4 million supporting Barrera. By comparison, the 2018 superintendent race between Tony Thurmond and Marshall Tuck raised a combined $50 million, making this year's contest far quieter.
The superintendent's office is nonpartisan, with no party affiliation listed on the ballot. Shaw emerged as the top vote-getter in a crowded June primary that featured several Democratic state lawmakers, but in November, endorsements, funding and campaigning broke largely along partisan lines. Shaw won election to the Chino Valley Unified board in 2022, backed by conservative parents, and began her political career there; she will not be returning to that board. Her husband, Chris Shaw, ran for her open seat and is trailing his challenger by 11 points, according to the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters.
(Source: EdSource)
Source: EdSource
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于萨克拉门托的加利福尼亚州议会大厦。Quintin Soloviev 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The California State Capitol in Sacramento. Photo by Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
