CA primary 2026: Shaw, Barrera lead in crowded schools superintendent race
Early returns in California’s primary election showed California Republican Party-endorsed Sonja Shaw and California Teachers Association-endorsed Richard Barrera leading the race to make it onto the November general election ballot for the position of state superintendent of schools.
As of Wednesday morning, Shaw was the frontrunner with about 24.9% of the counted votes and Barrera trailed behind with nearly 19%. Both had chalked up significant leads over the other major candidates in the crowded race: Wendy Castaneda Leal (9.9%), Anthony Rendon (8.2%), Nichelle Henderson (8.2%) and Al Muratsuchi (7.8%). As votes continue to be counted in the state primary, results could take days or even weeks to be finalized by the Secretary of State.
“Tonight’s results send a clear message: families want accountability, academic excellence, and schools that put students first,” Shaw — Chino Valley Unified school board president and a Republican activist — said in a statement Tuesday night. “Despite millions of dollars spent by special interests and the education establishment to protect the status quo, voters chose a different path. This campaign has always been about giving parents a voice and delivering a better future for our children.”
Meanwhile, Barrera — San Diego Unified school board president — expressed gratitude to the teachers who supported his campaign and said he was honored to have emerged “from a field of very qualified, dedicated candidates.”
“Now, we have the chance to go forward to the general election around a positive message of what’s possible for our public schools,” he said Wednesday morning.
The state superintendent of public instruction is a nonpartisan office that oversees the California Department of Education and executes the state Board of Education’s policies. The office does not have budget authority but does shape instructional policies and standards like curricula and testing.
By next January, however, the role of the superintendent may look very different from its current form. Earlier this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed moving the state Department of Education into the executive branch as part of his budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
Under that proposal, the agency would, via statute, move into the governor’s cabinet, where a Department of Education director would be appointed with approval from the state Board of Education. The position of the elected superintendent, meanwhile, would be diminished to that of an advocate of “state education policies from early childhood through college.” Tony Thurmond, outgoing state schools chief and a candidate in the governor race, has come out in opposition to the plan.
The proposal will have to make it into the final budget that the Legislature will pass by June 15 for these changes to be enacted.
Candidates in the race, including Shaw and Barrera, have criticized Newsom’s proposal.
Through her campaign, Shaw called herself an “independent advocate” who would “restore high academic standards in reading, writing, and math; protect Title IX, ensuring fairness and safety for girls; give parents a real seat at the table; support excellent teachers; and cut wasteful bureaucracy.” She first shot to fame when she emerged as a major player in the parental rights movement that was sparked by the lockdowns and mask mandates of the pandemic era and fed by the conviction that schools have become centers of leftist indoctrination. In 2023, she championed a controversial policy requiring Chino Valley schools to inform parents if their child went by a different name or gender pronouns at school.
Barrera, meanwhile, portrayed himself in his campaign as a political outsider who would improve wages for teachers, expand transitional kindergarten to cover 3-year-olds, increase oversight of statewide educational funding and track spending outcomes, and help build affordable housing for educators. Earlier, he served as a policy adviser to Thurmond, focusing on addressing chronic absenteeism and working with immigrant students and families.
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 11:16 PM.
