Richard Barrera, a Democrat, is running for California Superintendent of Public Instruction in the November 2026 general election against Republican Sonja Shaw, for the seat being vacated by Tony Thurmond, who ran for Governor and did not advance past the primary. Barrera holds a bachelor’s degree in American history from UC San Diego and a master’s in public policy from Harvard, and has served on the San Diego Unified School District board for 18 years, including five as board president, while also working as a senior policy adviser at the California Department of Education. Before his school board tenure, he was a senior union officer with a San Diego grocery workers’ local.
Barrera has been credited with steering a progressive, union-aligned agenda in San Diego Unified, including early adoption of community schools and expansion of college-prep courses in low-income high schools, and is endorsed by the California Teachers Association in his bid to lead the state’s public schools. In February 2026, his former union local publicly urged the state teachers’ association to rescind its endorsement of him, citing his role as the top deputy to a former union president who faced multiple lawsuits and public allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination; critics said Barrera stayed silent during that scandal rather than supporting the women who came forward.
