California Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2022

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California Superintendent of Public Instruction
Election details
Filing deadline: March 11, 2022
Primary: June 7, 2022 General: November 8, 2022 Pre-election incumbent(s): Tony Thurmond
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in California
Ballotpedia analysis
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California held an election for superintendent of public instruction on November 8, 2022. The primary was scheduled for June 7, 2022. The filing deadline was March 11, 2022.

Incumbent Tony Thurmond won election in the general election for California Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Candidates and election results

General election candidates

• Tony Thurmond  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔
• Lance Christensen  (Nonpartisan) 

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Primary candidates

• Tony Thurmond  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔
• Marco Amaral  (Nonpartisan) 
• Joseph Campbell  (Nonpartisan) 
• Lance Christensen  (Nonpartisan) ✔ 
• Jim Gibson  (Nonpartisan)
• Ainye Long  (Nonpartisan) 
• George Yang  (Nonpartisan)

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

Voting information

See also: Voting in California

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

Lance is committed to adding parents into the education equation.

Reorient all decision-making in the office and department towards the goal of what’s good for the kids and parents and commit to performing a “Kids First” audit of the Education Code.

Protect the rights and autonomy of charter schools, private schools and home schools.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

California’s public education is broken and continues to get worse. One need not have kids in school to know that despite record spending on our schools, decades of bad education policies have brought us among the lowest test scores and literacy rates in the nation. Unless dramatic steps are taken now and someone advocates for parents and children at the top, California won’t be able to graduate students who can read, work in the 21st Century’s dynamic economy or participate as thoughtful and engaged citizens in our communities.

Lance has 20 years of experience as a father of 5, teacher, education policy expert, parent advocate, nonprofit executive and public finance specialist. He knows what it takes to produce an exceptional education and it doesn’t originate or end in the State Capitol.

He can bring the vision and leadership to re-establish California as the country’s best place to educate their children.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is a constitutional office and California’s top education official. The Superintendent is an important leader on broad and specific policy direction and budget priorities for the over 6 million Kindergarten through 12th-grade school-aged children in the state. While the Superintendent does not write the laws on education policy, he heads the Department of Education and advocates for wise policymaking and judicious implementation of regulations. He also oversees a multi-billion dollar administration that can either help or frustrate the needs of local school districts. “As the state's chief of public schools, provides education policy direction to local school districts, and works with the education community to improve academic performance. The Superintendent also serves as an ex-officio member of governing boards of the state's higher education system.” Ultimately, the Superintendent needs to balance the needs of the state with the desires and passions of parents, who are ultimately responsible for the education of their children.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

My grandfather, Ross Palmer, was the most decent, God-fearing and hardworking family man I ever knew. There was no one better to have graced the earth than he in my estimation. I miss his wit and wisdom and incredible singing voice every day of my life.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

Visions of the Anointed, by Thomas Sowell

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

Honesty, virtue, courage and a principled, constitutional approach to public policy regardless of the politics.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

Vision - I see a time when the Superintendent is a light to parents in California who just want what's best for their kids rather than being a hindrance to any success.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

The Superintendent of Public Instruction should be a leader who understands discretion and desires to keep parents, not special interests, All actions by the Superintendent should reflect this knowledge.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

I would like California to be the top academic state in the nation again.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

I can remember watching the Challenger explode on live television at school in 1986. I was 10 at the time and devastated as I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

I worked in general maintenance as a 14-year-old at a new business complex that also housed a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado on weekends and over the summer. It required cleaning up the parking lots and empty retail offices, pulling weeds and performing other landscaping duties. I worked that job until I was 16 where I moved into being a stock boy at a national clothing store chain.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis. It seems to encapsulate every reason California has gone off the rails. A sober and thoughtful student of the book will see around the many devices used to produce a less than ideal state and fight back with better and more persuasive techniques for a virtuous and thriving society.

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

All major education decisions should be made by parents and ratified by local school boards. That said, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is a key decisionmaker, authorized in the state constitution and state statute to guide, direct and administer most state education policies. The office has far too long been used as a way to subvert local school districts and ultimately ignore the will of parents and their interest in providing the best education for their children. California needs a light in the Superintendent's office, not a hammer. I intend on being that light for parents.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

The California State Superintendent of Public Instruction is the only nonpartisan statewide constitutional office. While the Superintendent is the executive officer of the California Department of Education, he is also an ex officio member of governing boards of the state’s higher education system.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

Yes, understanding how the state legislature funds the state's 944 neighborhood school districts, 58 boards of education, various non-public schools and other various programs is useful for prescribing the right fixes to the office. My 20 years in and around the legislature and public education qualify me for the job.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

Lance Christensen (Nonpartisan)

I have 20 years of experience as a father of 5, teacher, education policy expert, parent advocate, nonprofit executive and public finance specialist. I know what it takes to produce an exceptional education and it doesn’t originate or end in the State Capitol.

Campaign finance

General election

Primary election

Past elections

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

See also

California	State Executive Elections	News and Analysis
California State Executive Offices California State Legislature California Courts	2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 California elections: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016	Party control of state government State government trifectas State of the state addresses Partisan composition of governors

External links

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

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