2018 California Superintendent of Public Instruction election ← 2014 June 5, 2018 (first round) November 6, 2018 (runoff) 2022 →
Candidate Tony Thurmond Marshall Tuck First round 2,136,919 35.59% 2,223,784 37.03% Runoff 5,385,912 50.88% 5,198,738 49.12% Candidate Lily Ploski Steven Ireland First round 984,932 16.40% 658,786 10.97% Runoff Eliminated Eliminated
First round county results Runoff county results Thurmond 20–30% 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%Tuck 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%Ploski 30–40%
The2018 California Superintendent of Public Instruction primary election was held in the U.S. state on June 5, 2018, to elect theSuperintendent of Public Instruction ofCalifornia . 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 via a general election, with arunoff held on November 6, 2018, because no candidate received a majority of the vote.
The previous incumbent, SuperintendentTom Torlakson , was term-limited, so could not seek a third term. As no candidate received a majority in the general election, a runoff was held between twoDemocrats :Marshall Tuck andTony Thurmond . Thurmond narrowly defeated Tuck.
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. Tony Thurmond
Federal-level Elected Officials
Kamala Harris , U.S. Senator[ 3] Barbara Lee , U.S. Representative (D-CA-13)[ 7] Eric Swalwell , U.S. Representative (D-CA-15)[ 7] Grace Napolitano , U.S. Representative (D-CA-32)[ 7] Jimmy Gomez , U.S. Representative (D-CA-34)[ 7] Jimmy Panetta , U.S. Representative (D-CA-20)[ 7] Judy Chu , U.S. Representative (D-CA-27)[ 7] Karen Bass , U.S. Representative (D-CA-37)[ 7] Mark DeSaulnier , U.S. Representative (D-CA-11)[ 7] Mark Takano , U.S. Representative (D-CA-41)[ 7] Mike Thompson , U.S. Representative (D-CA-5)[ 7] Norma Torres , U.S. Representative (D-CA-35)[ 7] Pete Aguilar U.S. Representative (D-CA-31)[ 7] Ro Khanna , U.S. Representative (D-CA17)[ 7] Sam Farr , former U.S. Representative (D-CA-20)[ 7] State-level Elected Officials
Tom Torlakson , California State Superintendent of Public Instruction[ 7] Jack O'Connell , former California State Superintendent of Public Instruction[ 7] Alex Padilla , California Secretary of State[ 7] Betty Yee , California State Controller[ 7] Dave Jones , California Insurance Commissioner[ 7] Fiona Ma , California State Board of Equalization member[ 7] Jerome Horton , California State Board of Equalization member[ 7] Toni Atkins , president pro tempore of the California State Senate, (SD-39 San Diego)[ 7] Ben Hueso , California State Senator (SD-40 San Diego)[ 7] Bill Monning , California State Senator (SD-17 Monterey)[ 7] Bob Wieckowski , California State Senator (SD-10 Fremont)[ 7] Cathleen Galgiani , California State Senator (SD-05 Stockton)[ 7] Connie Leyva , California State Senator (SD-20 Chino)[ 7] Ed Hernandez , California State Senator (SD-22 West Covina)[ 7] Hannah-Beth Jackson , California State Senator (SD-19 Santa Barbara)[ 7] Holly Mitchell , California State Senator (SD-30 Los Angeles)[ 7] Jerry Hill , California State Senator (SD-13 San Mateo)[ 7] Jim Beall , California State Senator (SD-15 San Jose)[ 7] Josh Newman , California State Senator (SD-29 Brea)[ 7] Mike McGuire , California State Senator (SD-02 Santa Rosa)[ 7] Ricardo Lara , California State Senator (SD-33 Bell Gardens)[ 7] Isadore Hall III , former California State Senator (SD-34 Compton)[ 7] Mark Leno , former California State Senator (SD-09 San Francisco)[ 7] Anthony Rendon , Speaker of the California State Assembly (AD-63 South Gate)[ 7] Ash Kalra , California State Assemblymember (AD-27 San Jose)[ 7] Chris Holden , California State Assemblymember (AD-41 Pasadena)[ 7] David Chiu , California State Assemblymember (AD-17 San Francisco)[ 7] Ed Chau , California State Assemblymember (AD-49 Monterey Park)[ 7] Eduardo Garcia , California State Assemblymember (AD-56 Imperial)[ 7] Eloise Reyes , California State Assemblymember (AD-47 San Bernardino)[ 7] Freddie Rodriguez , California State Assemblymember (AD-52 Chino)[ 7] Ian Calderon , California State Assemblymember (AD-57 Santa Fe Springs)[ 7] Jim Cooper , California State Assemblymember (AD-35 Elk Grove)[ 7] Jim Frazier , California State Assemblymember (AD-11 Fairfield)[ 7] Jim Wood , California State Assemblymember (AD-02 Eureka)[ 7] Jose Medina , California State Assemblymember (AD-61 Riverside)[ 7] Kansen Chu , California State Assemblymember (AD-25 Milpitas)[ 7] Ken Cooley , California State Assemblymember (AD-08 Rancho Cordova)[ 7] Kevin McCarty , California State Assemblymember (AD-07 Sacramento)[ 7] Kevin Mullin , California State Assemblymember (AD-22 San Mateo)[ 7] Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher , California State Assemblymember (AD-80 San Diego)[ 7] Mark Stone , California State Assemblymember (AD-29 Santa Cruz/Monterey)[ 7] Miguel Santiago , California State Assemblymember (AD-53 Los Angeles)[ 7] Mike Gipson , California State Assemblymember (AD-64 Gardena/Compton)[ 7] Patrick O'Donnell , California State Assemblymember (AD-70 Long Beach)[ 7] Phil Ting , California State Assemblymember (AD-19 San Francisco)[ 7] Reggie Jones-Sawyer , California State Assemblymember (AD-59 Los Angeles)[ 7] Rob Bonta , California State Assemblymember (AD-18 Oakland)[ 7] Rudy Salas , California State Assemblymember (AD-32 Bakersfield)[ 7] Sharon Quirk-Silva , California State Assemblymember (AD-65 Buena Park)[ 7] Tom Daly , California State Assemblymember (AD-69 Anaheim)[ 7] Fred Keeley , former Speaker of the California State Assembly (AD-27 Santa Cruz/Monterey)[ 7] Richard Gordon , former California State Assemblymember (AD-24 San Mateo)[ 7] Local-level Elected Officials
Organizations
Newspapers
Individuals
Marshall Tuck
Federal-level Appointed Officials
Federal-level Elected Officials
State-level Elected Officials
Bill Honig, former California Superintendent of Public Instruction[ 11] Steve Westly , former California State Controller[ 11] Bill Dodd , California State Senator[ 11] Shirley Weber , California State Assemblywoman[ 13] Bob Pacheco , former California State Assemblyman[ 11] Scott Wiener , California State Senator[ 14] Steve Glazer , California State Senator[ 14] Blanca Rubio , California State Assemblywoman[ 14] Marc Berman , California State Assemblyman[ 14] Kevin Kiley , California State Assemblyman (Republican )[ 11] Juan Arambula , former California State Assemblyman (Independent )[ 11] Gary Hart , former California State Senator[ 11] Local-level Elected Officials
Organizations
Association of California School Administrators[ 16] California Peace Officers' Association[ 11] Newspapers
Individuals
Alice Walton , heiress[ 19] Jim C. Walton , chairman ofArvest Bank [ 19] John Sculley , former CEO ofApple, Inc. [ 19] Doris F. Fisher , co-founder ofThe Gap, Inc. [ 19] Peter Chernin , businessman[ 19] John D. Arnold , investor and former hedge fund manager[ 19] Jeremy Stoppelman , CEO ofYelp [ 19] Alan Horn , chairman ofWalt Disney Studios [ 19] Ted Sarandos , CCO ofNetflix [ 19] Scott Stuber , producer[ 19] Ronald Meyer , vice chairman ofNBCUniversal [ 19] Thomas Rothman , chairman ofSony Pictures Motion Picture Group [ 19] Chris DeFaria , producer[ 19] David Crane , lecturer atStanford University [ 19] Reed Hastings , CEO ofNetflix [ 19] Meg Whitman , chair ofTeach for America and Republican nominee for Governor in2010 (Republican )[ 11] California Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2018[ 20] Candidate Votes % Marshall Tuck 2,223,784 37.03% Tony Thurmond 2,136,919 35.59% Lily Ploski 984,932 16.40% Steven Ireland 658,786 10.97% Douglas I. Vigil (write-in) 83 0.00% Thomas L. Williams (write-in) 66 0.00% Total votes 6,004,570 100.00%
Tony Thurmond
Federal-level Elected Officials
Kamala Harris , U.S. Senator (D-CA)[ 3] Barbara Lee , U.S. Representative (D-CA-13)[ 7] Eric Swalwell , U.S. Representative (D-CA-15)[ 7] Grace Napolitano , U.S. Representative (D-CA-32)[ 7] Jimmy Gomez , U.S. Representative (D-CA-34)[ 7] Jimmy Panetta , U.S. Representative (D-CA-20)[ 7] Judy Chu , U.S. Representative (D-CA-27)[ 7] Karen Bass , U.S. Representative (D-CA-37)[ 7] Mark DeSaulnier , U.S. Representative (D-CA-11)[ 7] Mark Takano , U.S. Representative (D-CA-41)[ 7] Mike Thompson , U.S. Representative (D-CA-5)[ 7] Norma Torres , U.S. Representative (D-CA-35)[ 7] Pete Aguilar U.S. Representative (D-CA-31)[ 7] Ro Khanna , U.S. Representative (D-CA17)[ 7] Sam Farr , former U.S. Representative (D-CA-20)[ 7] State-level Elected Officials
Tom Torlakson , California State Superintendent of Public Instruction[ 7] Jack O'Connell , former California State Superintendent of Public Instruction[ 7] Alex Padilla , California Secretary of State[ 7] Betty Yee , California State Controller[ 7] Dave Jones , California Insurance Commissioner[ 7] Fiona Ma , California State Board of Equalization member[ 7] Jerome Horton , California State Board of Equalization member[ 7] Toni Atkins , president pro tempore of the California State Senate, (SD-39 San Diego)[ 7] Ben Hueso , California State Senator (SD-40 San Diego)[ 7] Bill Monning , California State Senator (SD-17 Monterey)[ 7] Bob Wieckowski , California State Senator (SD-10 Fremont)[ 7] Cathleen Galgiani , California State Senator (SD-05 Stockton)[ 7] Connie Leyva , California State Senator (SD-20 Chino)[ 7] Ed Hernandez , California State Senator (SD-22 West Covina)[ 7] Hannah-Beth Jackson , California State Senator (SD-19 Santa Barbara)[ 7] Holly Mitchell , California State Senator (SD-30 Los Angeles)[ 7] Jerry Hill , California State Senator (SD-13 San Mateo)[ 7] Jim Beall , California State Senator (SD-15 San Jose)[ 7] Josh Newman , California State Senator (SD-29 Brea)[ 7] Mike McGuire , California State Senator (SD-02 Santa Rosa)[ 7] Ricardo Lara , California State Senator (SD-33 Bell Gardens)[ 7] Isadore Hall III , former California State Senator (SD-34 Compton)[ 7] Mark Leno , former California State Senator (SD-09 San Francisco)[ 7] Anthony Rendon , Speaker of the California State Assembly (AD-63 South Gate)[ 7] Ash Kalra , California State Assemblymember (AD-27 San Jose)[ 7] Chris Holden , California State Assemblymember (AD-41 Pasadena)[ 7] David Chiu , California State Assemblymember (AD-17 San Francisco)[ 7] Ed Chau , California State Assemblymember (AD-49 Monterey Park)[ 7] Eduardo Garcia , California State Assemblymember (AD-56 Imperial)[ 7] Eloise Reyes , California State Assemblymember (AD-47 San Bernardino)[ 7] Freddie Rodriguez , California State Assemblymember (AD-52 Chino)[ 7] Ian Calderon , California State Assemblymember (AD-57 Santa Fe Springs)[ 7] Jim Cooper , California State Assemblymember (AD-35 Elk Grove)[ 7] Jim Frazier , California State Assemblymember (AD-11 Fairfield)[ 7] Jim Wood , California State Assemblymember (AD-02 Eureka)[ 7] Jose Medina , California State Assemblymember (AD-61 Riverside)[ 7] Kansen Chu , California State Assemblymember (AD-25 Milpitas)[ 7] Ken Cooley , California State Assemblymember (AD-08 Rancho Cordova)[ 7] Kevin McCarty , California State Assemblymember (AD-07 Sacramento)[ 7] Kevin Mullin , California State Assemblymember (AD-22 San Mateo)[ 7] Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher , California State Assemblymember (AD-80 San Diego)[ 7] Mark Stone , California State Assemblymember (AD-29 Santa Cruz/Monterey)[ 7] Miguel Santiago , California State Assemblymember (AD-53 Los Angeles)[ 7] Mike Gipson , California State Assemblymember (AD-64 Gardena/Compton)[ 7] Patrick O'Donnell , California State Assemblymember (AD-70 Long Beach)[ 7] Phil Ting , California State Assemblymember (AD-19 San Francisco)[ 7] Reggie Jones-Sawyer , California State Assemblymember (AD-59 Los Angeles)[ 7] Rob Bonta , California State Assemblymember (AD-18 Oakland)[ 7] Rudy Salas , California State Assemblymember (AD-32 Bakersfield)[ 7] Sharon Quirk-Silva , California State Assemblymember (AD-65 Buena Park)[ 7] Tom Daly , California State Assemblymember (AD-69 Anaheim)[ 7] Fred Keeley , former Speaker of the California State Assembly (AD-27 Santa Cruz/Monterey)[ 7] Richard Gordon , former California State Assemblymember (AD-24 San Mateo)[ 7] Local-level Elected Officials
Organizations
Newspapers
Individuals
Marshall Tuck
Federal-level Appointed Officials
Federal-level Elected Officials
State-level Elected Officials
Bill Honig, former California Superintendent of Public Instruction[ 11] Steve Westly , former California State Controller[ 11] Bill Dodd , California State Senator[ 11] Shirley Weber , California State Assemblywoman[ 13] Bob Pacheco , former California State Assemblyman[ 11] Scott Wiener , California State Senator[ 14] Steve Glazer , California State Senator[ 14] Blanca Rubio , California State Assemblywoman[ 14] Marc Berman , California State Assemblyman[ 14] Kevin Kiley , California State Assemblyman (Republican )[ 11] Juan Arambula , former California State Assemblyman (Independent )[ 11] Gary Hart , former California State Senator[ 11] Local-level Elected Officials
Organizations
Association of California School Administrators[ 16] California Peace Officers' Association[ 11] Newspapers
Individuals
Alice Walton , heiress[ 19] Jim C. Walton , chairman ofArvest Bank [ 19] John Sculley , former CEO ofApple, Inc. [ 19] Doris F. Fisher , co-founder ofThe Gap, Inc. [ 19] Peter Chernin , businessman[ 19] John D. Arnold , investor and former hedge fund manager[ 19] Jeremy Stoppelman , CEO ofYelp [ 19] Alan Horn , chairman ofWalt Disney Studios [ 19] Ted Sarandos , CCO ofNetflix [ 19] Scott Stuber , producer[ 19] Ronald Meyer , vice chairman ofNBCUniversal [ 19] Thomas Rothman , chairman ofSony Pictures Motion Picture Group [ 19] Chris DeFaria , producer[ 19] David Crane , lecturer atStanford University [ 19] Reed Hastings , CEO ofNetflix [ 19] Meg Whitman , chair ofTeach for America and Republican nominee for Governor in2010 (Republican )[ 11] John H. Cox , businessman and Republican nominee for Governor in2018 (Republican )[ 21] California Superintendent of Public Instruction election runoff, 2018[ 26] Candidate Votes % ± Tony Thurmond 5,385,912 50.88% N/A Marshall Tuck 5,198,738 49.12% +1.26% Total votes 10,584,650 100.00%
^ "2018 certified list of candidates" (PDF) .elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov . RetrievedMarch 2, 2023 .^ "Lily E. Ploski Announces Bid for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction 2018" . December 26, 2017. RetrievedApril 17, 2018 .^a b c d Koseff, Alexei (April 3, 2017)."Tony Thurmond enters schools chief race pledging to fight Trump on education funding" .The Sacramento Bee . RetrievedApril 4, 2017 . ^a b Koseff, Alexei (March 13, 2017)."Marshall Tuck running again for California schools chief: 'We've settled for mediocrity' " .The Sacramento Bee . RetrievedApril 4, 2017 . ^a b "2018 certified list of candidates" (PDF) .elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov . RetrievedMarch 2, 2023 .^ Holloway, Marguerite (March 27, 2017)."Two NASA Engineers Try Out Politics" .The New Yorker . RetrievedApril 4, 2017 . ^a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es et eu ev ew ex ey ez fa fb fc fd fe ff fg fh fi fj fk fl fm fn fo fp fq fr fs ft fu fv fw fx fy fz ga gb gc gd ge gf gg gh gi gj gk gl gm gn go gp gq gr "Endorsements" .TONY THURMOND FOR SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION . RetrievedApril 4, 2018 .^a b "2018 Official Endorsements – June 5, 2018 Elections" (PDF) . Archived fromthe original (PDF) on May 7, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2022 .^a b "Endorsement: For his unwavering commitment to at-risk students, Tony Thurmond for superintendent of public instruction" .Los Angeles Times . April 23, 2018.^a b "It's Thurmond for superintendent of public instruction, as California politics shift" .Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2022 .^a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an "Supporters – Marshall Tuck" . RetrievedMarch 2, 2023 .^a b "Forty-year Bay Area Congressman George Miller (Ret.) Endorses Marshall Tuck for State Superintendent of Public Instruction" . Archived fromthe original on April 21, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2022 .^a b "Assemblymember Shirley Weber Endorses Marshall Tuck for State Superintendent of Public Instruction" . Archived fromthe original on April 21, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2022 .^a b c d e f g h "Four Democratic Legislators Endorse Marshall Tuck for State Superintendent" . Archived fromthe original on April 21, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2022 .^a b "TUCK FOR STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 2018; MARSHALL" .Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2022 .^a b "Association of California School Administrators Endorses Marshall Tuck for State Superintendent" . Archived fromthe original on April 21, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2022 .^a b "SF Chronicle Editorial Board Endorses Marshall Tuck" . Archived fromthe original on April 21, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2022 .^a b "Endorsement: Marshall Tuck for state superintendent of schools" . May 23, 2018.^a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad "TUCK FOR STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 2018; MARSHALL" .Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2022 .^ "Complete Statement of Votes" (PDF) . California Secretary of State. RetrievedJuly 22, 2018 .^ JohnHCox."People have asked my recommendations on a lot of races & ballot measures - two easy ones are @StevePoizner for IC and @MarshallTuck for #SPI - they will both be great for CA! #Midterms #California" .Twitter . ^ UC Berkeley ^ Thomas Partners Strategies ^ Thomas Partners Strategies ^ Thomas Partners Strategies ^ "Superintendent of Public Instruction - Statewide Results" (PDF) . California Secretary of State. RetrievedJanuary 18, 2020 .Official campaign websites
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