Tony Thurmond “Seriously” Considers Run For Governor

California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said this week that he was “seriously” considering a run for Governor in 2026.

Tony Thurmond issued the tweet July 6 just after 8:00 pm:

“Right now I am focused on my job as State Superintendent – from taking on MAGA extremists who want to ban books to defending classroom teachers and students against the constant assault on our democracy. But working families across California are facing so many challenges that require our entire state government, working together, to solve. Growing up in poverty as a Black and Latino kid without my parents, I lived the struggles that so many Californian’s face everyday – that’s why I dedicated my career to fighting for a brighter future for California’s children. Over the coming months, I will be seriously exploring a run for Governor in 2026, and I have formed a committee that begin that process.”

Thurmond is already listed on the California Secretary of State website as filing an intention to run which by 2026 Governor Gavin Newsom will be termed out.

Thurmond was elected a California State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2018.  Thurmond is an educator, social worker, and public school parent who has served Californians for more than 15 years in elected office. Previously, he served on the Richmond City Council, the West Contra Costa Unified School Board, and in the California State Assembly representing District 15.

Tony Thurmond touts his efforts to transform California schools in several areas

• Return to Safe In-Person Instruction: Secured $6.6 billion in funding to safely reopen schools
• Universal School Meals: helped distribute 920 million school meals to students during the pandemic and secured hundreds of millions of dollars to implement the nation’s first statewide Universal Meals Program in the 2022–23 school year.
• Community Schools: $4.13 billion investment in community school strategies to ensure an equity-driven approach to public education.
• Mental Health Support: established the Family Engagement Unit at the California Department of Education, which helps school districts empower families around a variety of needs including digital literacy, social–emotional learning, home/school communication, and supporting learning at home. He also addressed the student mental health crisis by leading efforts to expand resources and build the pipeline of student-serving clinicians through the creation of $20,000 grants for 10,000 school counselors through the Golden State Grant Program.
• Supporting Our Teachers: Superintendent Thurmond secured an unprecedented $1.5 billion investment in professional learning for educators and assisted with diversifying the teacher workforce through the Educator Effectiveness Block Grant.
• Universal Prekindergarten: Superintendent Thurmond championed the $2.7 billion Universal Transitional Kindergarten program to ensure that California leads the nation in expanding quality preschool. Universal prekindergarten will be gradually phased in over five years until it includes all the state’s four-year-olds by the 2025–26 school year.
• Literacy and Learning Loss: Superintendent Thurmond helped organize a taskforce on literacy and advocated new funding for high-dosage, intensive literacy interventions and additional funding for early literacy. These efforts resulted in $250 million to fund Literacy Coaches; $15 million to help 6,000 educators receive reading and literacy instruction certifications; $10 million to fund the First 5 of California Books for Children Program; $5 billion in ongoing funds to support students beyond normal school hours to develop their academic, social, emotional, and physical needs and interests (Expanded Learning Opportunities Program); and $7.94 billion to address learning recovery via the Learning Recovery Emergency Fund.

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Jan 10, 2023: State Superintendent Tony Thurmond on Governor’s Proposed 2023-24 Education Budget