Sonja Shaw concedes California superintendent race, says God isnt finished
Richard Barrera, the San Diego school board president backed by California’s powerful teachers union, has won the race for state superintendent of public instruction.“Last night, voters made their choice,” Chino Valley school board president Sonja Shaw said Thursday as she conceded.“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 added.Barrera led with 4,014,765 votes, about 57.6%, to Shaw’s 2,959,230, about 42.4%, a margin of more than 1 million votes, according to results updated Thursday morning.
All precincts had reported their ballots.“More than $10 million was poured into this race against us and we were up against a political machine that has been in place for decades.
We didn’t have that kind of money or machinery,” Shaw said.“What we had were people.
Mamas, dads, papas, Grammy bears, teachers, parents and everyday Californians who linked arms because they believe our children are worth fighting for.”Barrera, 59, who has yet to make a public statement, steps into a now largely moot role that looks very different from the one outgoing Superintendent Tony Thurmond held.Under a law Gov.
Gavin Newsom signed this summer, the next governor will appoint an education commissioner to run the California Department of Education beginning in 2027 — removing the department oversight that has long defined the elected post.The superintendent will instead become a voting member of the State Board of Education and join the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, while remaining a UC regent and CSU trustee.The new superintendent and the commissioner are expected to spend the first six months of 2027 negotiating a job description to bring back to the Legislature.Governor-elect Xavier Becerra will appoint the state’s first commissioner of education.Neither candidate supported the overhaul.
Shaw called it an...