California Democrat continues lead in superintendent race

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(The Center Square) – Democrat Richard Barrera, a candidate for California superintendent of public instruction, maintains a comfortable lead against his Republican opponent Sonja Shaw. 

Barrera led by 57.1% with 3,799,472 votes. Shaw received 42.9% and 2,850,246 votes, with 100% of the state's precincts reporting as of Wednesday. 

Both candidates did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment. 

Barrera, president of the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education, emphasizes increased education funding, affordable housing for educators and universal early childhood education, among other priorities. 

Throughout his campaign, Barrera has gotten ample support from the California Teachers Association, earning the endorsement of over 300,000 educators. 

According to Transparency USA, Barrera’s campaign has reported $313,428 in total contributions. The California Teachers Association/Association for Better Citizenship contributed $19,600.  

His opponent, Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education, has been a strong advocate against transgender athletes in girls' sports and continues to urge the state of California and the California Interscholastic Federation to follow the federal law of Title IX to protect girls in sports. 

In contrast, Barrera has vowed to protect LGBTQ+ students in schools. 

“Transgender students are among the most vulnerable students in our state,” Barrera told NBC4 Los Angeles news. “We are not a state that believes in bullying and scapegoating kids for political gain.”

While Shaw’s campaign has focused on transgender athletes and fighting CIF policies, Shaw criticized state education policies, arguing that students should not be subjected to approaches that don’t have results. She added that more funding should reach classrooms directly. 

The Center Square reached out to the California Family Council, an organization that has backed Shaw from the beginning, for comment but did not receive a response.