2018 California Superintendent of Public Instruction election

The 2018 California Superintendent of Public Instruction primary election was held on June 5, 2018, to elect the Superintendent of Public Instruction of California. Unlike most other elections in California, the superintendent is not elected under the state's "top-two primary". Instead, the officially nonpartisan position is elected via a general election, with a runoff held on November 6, 2018, because no candidate received a majority of the vote.

The previous incumbent, Superintendent Tom Torlakson, was term-limited, so could not seek a third term. As no candidate received a majority in the general election, a runoff was held between two Democrats: Marshall Tuck and Tony Thurmond. Thurmond narrowly defeated Tuck.

General election

 * Note: The state Superintendent of Public Instruction election in California is officially nonpartisan. The parties below identify which party label each candidate would have run under if given the option.

Declared

 * Steven Ireland
 * Lily Ploski, former educator and administrator
 * Tony Thurmond, Democratic State Assemblyman (Democratic)
 * Marshall Tuck, former CEO of Partnership for LA Schools, former president of Green Dot Public Schools and candidate in 2014 (Democratic)
 * Douglas I. Vigil (write-in)
 * Thomas L. Williams (write-in)

Declined

 * Natalia Sanchez, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer

Candidates

 * Tony Thurmond, Democratic State Assemblyman
 * Marshall Tuck, former CEO of Partnership for LA Schools, former president of Green Dot Public Schools and candidate in 2014