Overview
- Preliminary returns from the June 3 primary put Chino Valley Unified board president Sonja Shaw at about 24.9 percent and San Diego Unified board president Richard Barrera at about 18.9 percent with millions of mail‑in and provisional ballots still to be counted.
- The outstanding ballots matter because late-counted mail votes in California have historically favored Democrats and could change which two candidates advance to the November general election.
- Shaw built her lead by consolidating conservative and Republican voters with a campaign centered on parental-notification rules, book challenges, and restrictions on transgender athletes in girls’ sports.
- Barrera’s campaign was buoyed by heavy outside spending from education groups, including roughly $5 million in independent expenditures from the California Teachers Association.
- The state superintendent manages the California Department of Education but has limited direct control over local districts, and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to reconfigure the office means the eventual outcome could shift who sets the statewide education agenda and how authority is allocated.