California superintendent – As California’s primary voting begins, candidates for state superintendent of public instruction have reported raising a combined $2.9 million by the latest filing deadline, with fundraising trailing the $3.6 million raised during the 2018 primary.
When voting begins in California’s primary races, the money trail behind the state superintendent of public instruction contest is already telling a story of how much support candidates can quickly mobilize.
Across a crowded field of 10 candidates, the latest filings show fundraising totaling $2.9 million as of the most recent deadline.. That figure comes with a clear point of comparison: in the 2018 primary. when four candidates competed. candidates raised $3.6 million. in a race heavily shaped by debates over charter schools.. This year’s primary. despite the large number of candidates. has not produced a single issue that stands out as the driving force.
By April 18. eight superintendent candidates on the June primary ballot who filed their campaign finance forms electronically raised a combined $1.44 million in cash donations.. The filings also reported a combined amount of about $42. 000 in nonmonetary donations—such as office space. printing. or volunteer labor donated to a campaign instead of cash—as well as $20. 000 in loans (Richard Barrera).
Another large share of the totals came from candidates carrying funds forward.. Three candidates rolled over money from previous campaigns for a total of $1.45 million.. Al Muratsuchi transferred about $352,000 from his 2024 state Assembly campaign.. Sonja Shaw moved $4. 100 from her previous campaign. and Anthony Rendon rolled over around $1.1 million from his prior 2026 campaign for state treasurer.
The split between cash donations and money carried over is part of the race’s early financial shape: candidates reported $1.44 million in monetary donations while also bringing $1.45 million in rollover funds into the contest, even as the overall combined figure reaches $2.9 million as of April 18.
MISRYOUM Education News has also been tracking how contributions are distributed across individual donors and giving at the maximum legal level.. Sonja Shaw has a commanding lead in the number of individual donors, including from both individuals and organizations.. A large number of cash donors can be a sign of grassroots enthusiasm or an intense but narrow base of support.
At the top end of legal giving. 46 is the number of individuals and groups who donated the legal maximum to a State Superintendent candidate.. California’s maximum monetary contribution to a statewide candidate in California is $9. 800 for an individual or $19. 600 for a “Small Contributor Committee. ” which in this race are mostly labor union PACs or political funds.
Not every candidate’s totals could be calculated from the same set of filings. Wendy Castaneda Leal and Ainye Long did not file electronically, so their fundraising totals were unavailable.
The pattern in the filings is straightforward: the combined $2.9 million total by the April 18 deadline is supported by two main streams—$1.44 million in cash donations (plus about $42. 000 in nonmonetary donations and $20. 000 in loans) from eight electronically filing candidates. and $1.45 million from three candidates rolling over prior campaign funds—while two candidates’ totals remain missing because they did not file electronically.
As for why candidates’ early fundraising is being read so closely. the filings land in a moment when the field is wide and the issues haven’t clearly consolidated.. Even with 10 candidates in the race. the fundraising total is behind the $3.6 million raised in 2018. when four candidates competed and charter schools debates loomed large.. This time, the reports show no single issue has emerged as the defining force during the primary.
For voters, the timing is already tightening: the filings arrive as the June primary ballot turns attention toward who has momentum—not only in education policy, but in the ability to gather resources before Election Day.
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