California Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2026

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← 2022
California Superintendent of Public Instruction
Election details
Filing deadline: March 6, 2026
Primary: Pending General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in California
Ballotpedia analysis
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California executive elections
Governor Lieutenant Governor Attorney General Secretary of State Controller Insurance Commissioner Superintendent of Public Instruction Treasurer State Board of Equalization (4 seats)

California is holding an election for superintendent of public instruction on November 3, 2026.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for California Superintendent of Public Instruction

Nichelle Henderson and Andra Hoffman are running in the general election for California Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Nichelle Henderson (Nonpartisan)
		Andra Hoffman (Nonpartisan)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Candidate profiles

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• Nichelle Henderson

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• Nichelle Henderson

Voting information

See also: Voting in California

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Past elections

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2014.

2022

See also: California Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2022

General election

General election for California Superintendent of Public Instruction

Incumbent Tony Thurmond defeated Lance Christensen in the general election for California Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tony Thurmond (Nonpartisan)	63.7	5,681,318
		Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)	36.3	3,237,785

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,919,103
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for California Superintendent of Public Instruction

The following candidates ran in the primary for California Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tony Thurmond (Nonpartisan)	45.9	2,881,684
✔		Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)	11.9	745,003
		Ainye Long (Nonpartisan)	11.1	699,331
		George Yang (Nonpartisan)	11.1	694,073
		Marco Amaral (Nonpartisan)	8.7	547,389
		Jim Gibson (Nonpartisan)	7.5	468,078
		Joseph Campbell (Nonpartisan)	3.9	241,984

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,277,542
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2018

See also: California Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2018

General election

General election for California Superintendent of Public Instruction

Tony Thurmond defeated Marshall Tuck in the general election for California Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tony Thurmond (Nonpartisan)	50.9	5,385,912
		Marshall Tuck (Nonpartisan)	49.1	5,198,738

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,584,650 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for California Superintendent of Public Instruction

Marshall Tuck and Tony Thurmond defeated Lily Ploski and Steven Ireland in the primary for California Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marshall Tuck (Nonpartisan)	37.0	2,223,784
✔		Tony Thurmond (Nonpartisan)	35.6	2,136,919
		Lily Ploski (Nonpartisan)	16.4	984,932
		Steven Ireland (Nonpartisan)	11.0	658,786

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 6,004,421
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2014

See also: California down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Superintendent of California, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Tom Torlakson Incumbent	52.1%	3,167,212
	Nonpartisan	Marshall Tuck	47.9%	2,906,989
Total Votes				6,074,201
Election results via California Secretary of State

Election analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this state's elections when those are available.

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• California superintendent of public instruction official website

Footnotes

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