Sonja Shaw is a Chino, California native, small business owner, and parent activist who serves as President of the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education. She is running as a nonpartisan candidate — backed by the California Republican Party — for California Superintendent of Public Instruction in the June 2, 2026 primary. She did not attend college. Shaw is owner-operator of two small businesses: a personal fitness training practice focused on women’s health, and a professional photography business. She also holds a California Real Estate License and leads a community-based Bible study in Chino.
Shaw grew up in Chino and was educated entirely in Chino Valley schools, graduating from Ayala High School. Before the pandemic, she was a stay-at-home mother who led early-morning personal training sessions and, by her own account, did not know what a school board was. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she enrolled her daughters in a charter school in Rancho Cucamonga that offered in-person instruction, and began attending Chino Valley Unified board meetings after hearing concerns from other parents. She then ran for the open Area 3 board seat in November 2022, winning election on a “parents’ rights” platform. She became Board President in 2023.
Shaw announced her candidacy for Superintendent of Public Instruction in early 2025, appearing on Fox News to launch the campaign. She is running on a platform centered on parental rights, a return to academic basics, opposition to what she describes as “radical ideologies” in the classroom, and requiring schools to notify parents if a child identifies as transgender. She frames her candidacy explicitly as a challenge to Sacramento’s education establishment: “It’s all been political ideologies being shoved down everybody’s throats, and I think everybody’s tired of that. You need somebody who’s going to get in there and fight that.”
Endorsements
California Republican Party, Moms for Liberty (California chapter), California Rifle and Pistol Association, Mari Barke (Orange County Board of Education trustee), and a network of conservative parent and parental rights organizations. A full list is available on her campaign website.
Reputation/Scandals/Successes
Core Strengths and Positive Reputation
- Grassroots Credibility and Authentic Outsider Story: Shaw’s rise from stay-at-home mother with no political background to school board president and statewide candidate is a genuine grassroots story that resonates powerfully with conservative and politically disaffected voters. Unlike most candidates in the race, she has never sought or held higher office and presents herself as a citizen-politician acting out of conviction rather than ambition.
- Strong Small-Donor Fundraising Base: Despite raising less total money than some Democratic rivals, Shaw has a commanding lead in the number of individual donors among superintendent candidates — a sign of genuine grassroots enthusiasm and an energized, if narrower, base of support that can be powerful in a low-turnout primary.
- Academic Improvement at Chino Valley Unified: Shaw points to Stanford University research showing improved test scores in Chino Valley Unified during her tenure as evidence that her “back to basics” approach — prioritizing academic fundamentals over what she calls political programming — produces measurable results for students.
- Electoral Path to November: Lance Christensen, who ran against Thurmond in 2022, has predicted that Shaw will advance to the November general election because Democratic votes will split among the other candidates. With 7% support in recent polling — tied with frontrunner Richard Barrera — she has a realistic path to the top-two runoff in a fractured field.
Controversies and Criticisms
- Ejection of State Superintendent Tony Thurmond: In July 2023, Shaw presided over a Chino Valley Unified board meeting at which she had security guards escort State Superintendent Tony Thurmond out of the room after he spoke briefly over his allotted one minute while opposing the board’s proposed parental notification policy on transgender students. Shaw accused Thurmond of “perverting children” as he left. Thurmond later described being “thrown out of a board meeting by extremists.” The incident was widely covered nationally and became the defining moment of Shaw’s public profile.
- Parental Notification Policy and State Legal Challenge: The “forced outing” policy Shaw’s board passed — requiring schools to notify parents within three days if a child identifies as transgender, changes their name or pronouns, or seeks access to gender-affirming facilities — drew a lawsuit from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who argued it violated state anti-discrimination law and threatened the privacy and safety of LGBTQ+ students. The policy became a flashpoint in the national debate over transgender student rights and parental notification laws.
- No College Degree and No Formal Education Training: Shaw did not attend college and has no professional background in education, curriculum, finance, or public administration. Critics — including education researchers and opponents — have argued this makes her unqualified to oversee a $150 billion education budget serving 6 million students, and that the state superintendent role requires deep institutional and policy expertise she does not have.
- Steep Structural Disadvantage in California: No Republican-aligned candidate has won a California statewide constitutional office since 2006. Shaw’s endorsers — including Moms for Liberty, which has been designated an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center — may energize her base while limiting her appeal in the general electorate. Most election analysts view a Shaw victory in November as unlikely in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2 to 1.
- Confrontational Style: Multiple observers, including supporters, have described Shaw’s approach as deliberately combative. While her supporters celebrate her “fire in her belly,” critics — including educators, LGBTQ+ advocates, and Democratic officials — argue that her record at Chino Valley Unified reflects a divisive style that would make it difficult for her to work constructively with teachers, administrators, school boards, and the legislature statewide.
Campaign Contributors
Shaw transferred $4,100 from her previous school board campaign to her 2026 superintendent race. Cal Matters has her total contributions in excess of $366K.
Media Coverage
EdSource: Meet the State Superintendent Candidates — Sonja Shaw
CalMatters Voter Guide – Superintendent of Public Instruction
CalMatters: Who Will Break Out in the 2026 California Superintendent Election?
KTVU: California Schools Chief Tony Thurmond Booted from School Board Meeting
The National Desk: California Suing Chino Valley Unified Over Transgender Notification Policy
Chino Valley Defenders of Public Education: Sonja Shaw to Run for State Superintendent
