Former state Sen. Josh Newman has a new 2026 endeavor: a campaign to lead California’s schools.
Newman, who represented California’s 37th State Senate District until he lost a reelection bid in November, said a run for California’s state superintendent of public instruction makes more sense than running for a different state Senate seat.
In the legislature, Newman chaired the Senate Education Committee. He said he was proud of the work he was able to do on not only his legislation but his colleagues’ bills as well to “find the right balance to deliver the best and most successful education for California’s kids,” something he took into consideration when deciding his next political steps.
“I really feel like we need to improve California’s education across the board,” Newman, a Democrat, said in an interview. “That’s not a simple thing, but it’s a worthy endeavor.”
Newman pointed to improving educational attainment, better aligning the workday and school day, and lowering chronic absenteeism as the three most pressing needs in California’s education system at the moment.
National Assessment for Educational Progress scores for 2024 showed California continued to trail the nation when it comes to math and reading. Fourth- and eighth-grade reading scores, for example, fell again last year.
“The key is being really deliberative about finding best practices and practitioners in the state who are doing good work and figure out how we are then going to replicate what they’re doing so every student gets a better education,” Newman, 60, said.
Newman, earlier this year, had said he planned to run for the 34th State Senate District in 2026, a district centered in Orange County that also dips into Los Angeles County a bit. It’s represented by Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, who cannot run for reelection because of term limits.
Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, D-Anaheim, had also launched a bid for that state Senate seat, and the race was shaping up to be a tough inter-party battle.
“I announced my campaign for state Senate,” Valencia said Friday, “with the goal of providing responsive and effective leadership for our Orange County communities. That continues to be my focus. I wish former Sen. Josh Newman all the best.”
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, and Chino Valley Unified School District board president Sonja Shaw have also launched campaigns for state superintendent of public instruction.
Shaw is a Republican who has advocated for conservative policies in the district, including one that would have informed parents if their child identifies as transgender.
Muratsuchi chairs the Assembly Education Committee and is a former school board member in Torrance.
Newman announced his bid to lead California’s Department of Education on the Gower Hour podcast, hosted by Bode Gower, a student at Ukiah High School in Northern California.
“I really do think we need to take a different approach,” Newman said. “And especially in that position, we need leadership that is open to new approaches but also that is willing to define and apply a standard that extends to every student, every school district in California that accounts for all the differences in our wonderful state.”
Since leaving the statehouse, Newman joined the UC Irvine School of Social Ecology, an unpaid fellowship, where he will co-teach a class on California’s future along with School of Social Ecology Dean Jon Gould.
