CALIFORNIA — November 4, 2026. Richard Barrera held a lead over Sonja Shaw in the statewide, nonpartisan election for Superintendent of Public Instruction, but the results remain unofficial and incomplete.

Early statewide figures

NBC San Diego’s election dashboard showed Barrera with 3,561,826 votes (57.28%) and Shaw with 2,656,562 (42.72%), alongside an estimate that 58% of the expected vote was in. Estimated vote-completion percentages are not the same as certified votes or the share of precincts reporting.

Barrera serves as the president of the San Diego Unified school board. Shaw is the president of the Chino Valley Unified school board. Their campaigns offered contrasting approaches to education policy, school governance and parental involvement. The office is formally nonpartisan even though campaigns received endorsements from political organizations.

What will this office control?

This year’s contest is unusual because state leaders have moved to change oversight of the California Department of Education. KCRA explains that a governor-appointed framework will assume key departmental management functions starting in January, reducing some powers historically associated with the elected superintendent.

Residents should distinguish oversight of individual local school districts, state education policy and the functions of the future elected superintendent. The election outcome alone will not determine every district-level curriculum or budget decision.

Follow the count

The totals above are a specific partial-count snapshot. California’s Secretary of State results site provides the current unofficial statewide count as counties submit updates. Certification is scheduled by December 11.

California58 will report a declared winner only with clear attribution to the projecting news organization or following official certification.

INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ACROSS CALIFORNIA

Support independent journalism for all Californians

Support reporting, public information and community coverage across California’s 58 counties.

Donate once by card ↗
Support independent California journalism Your contribution helps build and sustain independent community reporting across California.
Support California58

Choose how to support California58:

Credit / Debit Card via Stripe

Choose an amount from $1. One-time support through the publisher's LINKERNO Stripe account.

Continue with PayPal Continue with Zelle

Zelle payments go to Vitaly Ataev Troshin. Please verify the recipient in your bank before sending. Availability depends on your bank.

Optional reader support. Contributions are not advertised as tax-deductible. Support does not influence editorial decisions.
Optional support through the publisher. Contributions are not advertised as tax-deductible and never buy editorial influence.

USEFUL SERVICES

Useful services from our ecosystem

AFFILIATED RESOURCE

Travel smarter worldwide

OptionTrip

AI-powered trip planning for journeys in California and around the world.

Explore OptionTrip →

AFFILIATED RESOURCE

Free tax & property tools

TaxesTime

Free preliminary tax and property tools, including the Property Tax Savings Report.

Explore TaxesTime →

AFFILIATED RESOURCE

California document support

LegalDocSVC

Document preparation support for self-represented Californians. Not a law firm and not legal advice.

Explore LegalDocSVC →

WORK WITH CALIFORNIA58

Have a story, project or partnership idea?

California58 welcomes news tips, interviews, video projects, community partnerships, advertising and other California-focused collaborations.

Work with California58 →

COMMUNITY

Comments

Join the California58 conversation. You must be signed in to comment.