2026 California Superintendent of Public Instruction election
The 2026 California Superintendent of Public Instruction election will take place on June 2, 2026, to elect the next Superintendent of Public Instruction of California. Unlike most other elections in the state, the office is not elected under the state's nonpartisan blanket primary system. Instead, the officially nonpartisan is elected via a general election, with a runoff scheduled for November 3, 2026 if no candidate receives a majority of the vote.
Article
2026 California Superintendent of Public Instruction election
The 2026 California Superintendent of Public Instruction election will take place on June 2, 2026, to elect the next Superintendent of Public Instruction of California. Unlike most other elections in the state, the office is not elected under the state's nonpartisan blanket primary system. Instead, the officially nonpartisan is elected via a general election, with a runoff scheduled for November 3, 2026 if no candidate receives a majority of the vote.
Incumbent Superintendent Tony Thurmond, who was elected in (/wiki/2018CaliforniaSuperintendentofPublicInstructionelection) and reelected in (/wiki/2022CaliforniaSuperintendentofPublicInstructionelection), is term-limited and running for governor.
Candidates
2026 California Superintendent of Public Instruction election
The Superintendent of Public Instruction election in California is officially nonpartisan. The parties below identify which party label each candidate would have run under if given the option.
Declared
• Richard Barrera (Democratic), San Diego Unified School District Board member • Nichelle Henderson (Democratic), Los Angeles Community College District trustee • Frank Lara (Peace and Freedom), education union leader • Wendy Castaneda Leal, superintendent of Semitropic Elementary School District • Ainye Long, teacher • Gus Mattammal (Republican), candidate for California's 15th congressional district in (/wiki/2022UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinCalifornia#District15), and candidate for California's 23rd State Assembly district in (/wiki/2024CaliforniaStateAssemblyelection#District23). • Al Muratsuchi (Democratic), state assemblymember from the 66th district (2012–2014, 2016–present) • Josh Newman (Democratic), former state senator from the 29th district (2016–2018, 2020–2024) • Anthony Rendon (Democratic), former Speaker of the California State Assembly (2016–2023) from the 62nd district (2012–2024) • Sonja Shaw (Republican), president of the Chino Valley Unified School District board
Withdrawn
• Andra Hoffman (Democratic), Los Angeles Community College District trustee
General election
Results
<table><thead><tr><th>Candidate</th><th>Votes</th><th>%</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Al Muratsuchi</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Gus Mattammal</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Wendy Castaneda Leal</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ainye Long</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Frank Lara</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Nichelle Henderson</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Richard Barrera</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Anthony Rendon</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Josh Newman</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Sonja Shaw</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Total votes</td><td></td><td>100.0%</td></tr></tbody></table>