Richard Barrera

Candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction

Richard Barrera leads a San Diego school board. He is president of San Diego Unified's Board of Education. He has long worked as a labor and community organizer too. He is a graduate of El Cajon Valley High School. He holds a history degree from UC San Diego. He holds a public-policy master's from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, per his official district biography. Before office, Barrera organized workers. He worked with domestic staff, health aides, and nurses. He also worked with San Diego's poorest areas. His focus was housing, fair pay, and civic voice. As a leader of the local labor council, he helped raise San Diego's minimum wage. He also helped win paid sick days. That covered more than 200,000 workers. He has sat on several boards too: the Center on Policy Initiatives, the California Immigration Policy Center, and the Cesar E. Chavez Service Clubs. Barrera first won his school-board seat, District D, in 2008. He was re-elected in 2012. He was re-elected again in 2016, in 2020, and in 2024. That is about 18 years on the board. He has served roughly five years as its president. The district is California's second largest, with about 103,000 students. Race coverage notes record graduation rates during his time there. Since 2024 he has also advised the state. He works on special projects for schools chief Tony Thurmond. Thurmond is termed out, and running for governor instead. So Barrera entered the 2026 race for the nonpartisan schools-chief job. In the June 2, 2026 primary he placed second of ten candidates. He now advances to a November 3 runoff. His foe is Sonja Shaw, who leads the Chino Valley school board. Barrera is a Democrat, though the office itself carries no party. The California Teachers Association backs him. It has spent over $5 million on his campaign. Other backers include a charter-school group and the San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board. The county Democratic Party backs him too. So do two unions, SEIU Local 221 and UFCW Local 135. A group called the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest backs him as well. The state Democratic Party reached no single pick in this race. He lives in San Diego's South Park area. He is married, with two sons, both graduates of the district. Home: San Diego, South Park area, California. Job: President, San Diego school board. He also advises the state education department, and has long organized labor and community groups. Prior office: San Diego school board member, District D, since 2008. He was re-elected in 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024. He has served several terms as its president, including now. No prior state or federal office was found. This is an open seat. Incumbent Tony Thurmond is termed out.

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