The 2018 California Superintendent of Public Instruction election was held on June 5 and November 6, 2018, to elect the Superintendent of Public Instruction of California. Unlike most other elections in California, the superintendent is not elected under the state's "top-two primary". Instead, the officially nonpartisan position is elected at a primary election, with a runoff at a general election if no candidate receives a majority of the vote.

The previous incumbent, Superintendent Tom Torlakson, was term-limited, so could not seek a third term. As no candidate received a majority in the primary, a runoff was held between two Democrats. Tony Thurmond narrowly defeated Marshall Tuck.

Primary election Note: The state 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.

Candidates Declared Steven Ireland Lily Ploski, former educator and administrator Tony Thurmond, Democratic State Assemblyman (Democratic) Marshall Tuck, former CEO of Partnership for LA Schools, former president of Green Dot Public Schools and candidate in 2014 (Democratic) Douglas I. Vigil (write-in) Thomas L. Williams (write-in)

Declined Natalia Sanchez, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer

Endorsements

Results

Runoff Candidates Tony Thurmond, Democratic State Assemblyman Marshall Tuck, former CEO of Partnership for LA Schools, former president of Green Dot Public Schools and candidate in 2014

Endorsements

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error TonyThurmond MarshallTuck UndecidedUC BerkeleyUC Berkeley October 19–26, 2018 1,339 ± 4.0% 36% 48% 16%Thomas Partners StrategiesThomas Partners Strategies October 18–20, 2018 1,068 ± 3.5% 35% 37% 28%Thomas Partners StrategiesThomas Partners Strategies October 5–7, 2018 1,068 ± 3.5% 28% 30% 41%Thomas Partners StrategiesThomas Partners Strategies September 28–30, 2018 1,068 ± 3.5% 17% 29% 54%

Results

By county Blue represents counties won by Thurmond. Cyan represents counties won by Tuck.

County Thurmond # Thurmond % Tuck # Tuck % Margin # Margin % Total Alameda 329,239 66.84 163,343 33.16 165,896 33.68 492,582 Alpine 271 54.75 224 45.25 47 9.49 495 Amador 5,492 36.08 9,729 63.92 -4,237 -27.84 15,221 Butte 32,418 42.90 43,152 57.10 -10,734 -14.20 75,570 Calaveras 6,585 36.40 11,508 63.60 -4,923 -27.21 18,093 Colusa 1,653 34.65 3,118 65.35 -1,465 -30.71 4,771 Contra Costa 219,343 57.73 160,573 42.27 58,770 15.47 379,916 Del Norte 2,898 43.70 3,733 56.30 -835 -12.59 6,631 El Dorado 29,064 39.18 45,119 60.82 -16,055 -21.64 74,183 Fresno 82,740 37.42 138,359 62.58 -55,619 -25.16 221,099 Glenn 2,196 30.70 4,958 69.30 -2,762 -38.61 7,154 Humboldt 24,733 57.89 17,988 42.11 6,745 15.79 42,721 Imperial 13,034 44.80 16,061 55.20 -3,027 -10.40 29,095 Inyo 2,624 44.26 3,305 55.74 -681 -11.49 5,929 Kern 67,943 37.14 114,999 62.86 -47,056 -25.72 182,942 Kings 8,719 33.73 17,129 66.27 -8,410 -32.54 25,848 Lake 9,423 50.51 9,232 49.49 191 1.02 18,655 Lassen 2,325 31.28 5,108 68.72 -2,783 -37.44 7,433 Los Angeles 1,422,560 56.56 1,092,776 43.44 329,784 13.11 2,515,336 Madera 11,377 34.32 21,770 65.68 -10,393 -31.35 33,147 Marin 72,662 65.64 38,040 34.36 34,622 31.27 110,702 Mariposa 2,565 37.15 4,340 62.85 -1,775 -25.71 6,905 Mendocino 17,871 61.49 11,191 38.51 6,680 22.99 29,062 Merced 20,361 39.68 30,950 60.32 -10,589 -20.64 51,311 Modoc 853 28.90 2,099 71.10 -1,246 -42.21 2,952 Mono 2,039 50.37 2,009 49.63 30 0.74 4,048 Monterey 51,018 50.10 50,806 49.90 212 0.21 101,824 Napa 27,661 56.48 21,311 43.52 6,350 12.97 48,972 Nevada 20,827 46.33 24,129 53.67 -3,302 -7.34 44,956 Orange 391,493 42.93 520,455 57.07 -128,962 -14.14 911,948 Placer 59,483 39.81 89,941 60.19 -30,458 -20.38 149,424 Plumas 2,852 37.91 4,672 62.09 -1,820 -24.19 7,524 Riverside 227,003 42.44 307,875 57.56 -80,872 -15.12 534,878 Sacramento 220,319 49.93 220,897 50.07 -578 -0.13 441,216 San Benito 8,219 46.95 9,287 53.05 -1,068 -6.10 17,506 San Bernardino 194,001 43.32 253,835 56.68 -59,834 -13.36 447,836 San Diego 425,096 45.31 513,201 54.69 -88,105 -9.39 938,297 San Francisco 191,332 66.18 97,777 33.82 93,555 32.36 289,109 San Joaquin 73,936 43.62 95,563 56.38 -21,627 -12.76 169,499 San Luis Obispo 47,890 45.79 56,704 54.21 -8,814 -8.43 104,594 San Mateo 146,678 60.90 94,188 39.10 52,490 21.79 240,866 Santa Barbara 63,388 49.95 63,503 50.05 -115 -0.09 126,891 Santa Clara 294,172 55.72 233,752 44.28 60,420 11.44 527,924 Santa Cruz 60,474 60.00 40,323 40.00 20,151 19.99 100,797 Shasta 19,573 32.22 41,167 67.78 -21,594 -35.55 60,740 Sierra 502 37.16 849 62.84 -347 -25.68 1,351 Siskiyou 5,890 38.89 9,254 61.11 -3,364 -22.21 15,144 Solano 69,575 53.30 60,967 46.70 8,608 6.59 130,542 Sonoma 116,350 62.83 68,825 37.17 47,525 25.66 185,175 Stanislaus 57,167 42.25 78,126 57.75 -20,959 -15.49 135,293 Sutter 8,580 32.63 17,716 67.37 -9,136 -34.74 26,296 Tehama 5,476 30.49 12,485 69.51 -7,009 -39.02 17,961 Trinity 1,844 40.14 2,750 59.86 -906 -19.72 4,594 Tulare 30,384 35.79 54,513 64.21 -24,129 -28.42 84,897 Tuolumne 7,343 37.00 12,504 63.00 -5,161 -26.00 19,847 Ventura 123,812 48.29 132,555 51.71 -8,743 -3.41 256,367 Yolo 36,948 57.64 27,155 42.36 9,793 15.28 64,103 Yuba 5,638 34.22 10,840 65.78 -5,202 -31.57 16,478Totals 5,385,912 50.88 5,198,738 49.12 187,174 1.77 10,584,650

See also California Department of Education

References

External links Official campaign websites Tony Thurmond for Superintendent Marshall Tuck for Superintendent