California schools chief Tony Thurmond announces run to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, a Bay Area Democrat, announced Tuesday that he’s running for Governor in 2026, joining Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and, possibly, Attorney General Rob Bonta, in the race to replace Gavin Newsom.

“I didn’t come from money, power or influence,” Thurmond said in an announcement on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “I’m running for governor to be a voice for those who need one — because California may be working for millionaires and billionaires but for the rest of California — we need real change.”

Thurmond’s career in public office began with his election to the Richmond City Council in 2006. He served on the West Contra Costa School Board in 2008, and in 2014 was elected to the Assembly, where he served until his bid for superintendent in 2018.

Thurmond’s two-term tenure as state superintendent hasn’t been particularly smooth: in 2021, Politico reported that Thurmond created such a toxic work environment that nearly two dozen staff left the state education department. He oversaw the same department during the COVID-19 school shutdowns.

Earlier this year, Thurmond made waves when he showed up to a Chino Valley Unified School District board meeting as conservative board members heard public comment about a parental notification policy that would require district staff to inform a parent if their student transitions or experiments with their gender identity.

Thurmond said he was invited by Chino Valley students but was “verbally attacked” by board president Sonja Shaw.

Shaw, a Christian conservative, has said Thurmond is part of a “political cartel” along with Gov. Gavin Newsom and Bonta, both of whom have intervened in board decisions around parent notification policies and book bans.

At the July meeting, Shaw, who’s become the face of the growing California parents’ rights movement, told Thurmond that he was “proposing things that pervert children” and had law enforcement remove him from the meeting. Thurmond has called her and her allies “extremists” going after vulnerable LGBTQ students.

“Thurmond just gave all of California a great laugh,” Shaw told The Sacramento Bee on Tuesday in response to Thurmond’s announcement.

“Thurmond and the rest of the political cartel don’t have very much more time in their political careers to wreak havoc, it’s only a matter of time before these guys lose their seats. It took a soccer mom to show him that we would not back down regardless of his tactics, bullying, and blackmail. He’s weak.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2023 at 10:39 AM.