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Tony Thurmond

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Tony Thurmond
Official portrait, 2014
28th California Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 7, 2019
GovernorGavin Newsom
Preceded byTom Torlakson
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 15th district
In office
December 1, 2014 – November 30, 2018
Preceded byNancy Skinner
Succeeded byBuffy Wicks
Personal details
BornTony Krajewski Thurmond
(1968-08-21) August 21, 1968 (age 57)
Monterey, California, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
Children2
EducationTemple University (BA)
Bryn Mawr College (MA, MSW)
WebsiteCampaign website

Tony Krajewski Thurmond (born August 21, 1968) is an American politician serving as the 28th California State Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a member of the California State Assembly from 2014 to 2018.

Early life and education

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Thurmond was born on August 21, 1968, in Monterey, California. His mother, an immigrant from Panama, died when he was six years old, and his father did not return after serving in the Vietnam War.[1]

Following his mother’s death, Thurmond and his younger brother moved to Philadelphia where they were raised by cousins they had not previously met.[1] His cousins practiced Hebrew Pentecostalism, a Black religious tradition with roots in the Old Testament, observing Jewish practices such as keeping a kosher home and celebrating the Sabbath and major Jewish holidays.[1] Growing up in poverty, the family relied on public assistance, including free school lunches.[1]

Thurmond attended Temple University, where he served as student body president, and went on to earn dual master’s degrees in law and social policy and social work from Bryn Mawr College.[1]

Early career

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In the mid-2000s, Thurmond was the executive director of Beyond Emancipation, a social service agency providing aftercare services to youths leaving the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in Alameda County.[citation needed]

At the Golden Gate Regional Center, he was a program manager leading service provision to individuals with developmental disabilities. In 2012 he served as the Senior Director of Community and Government Relations at Lincoln Child Center.[2][better source needed]

Political career

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Prior to being elected to the Assembly in 2014, he was a member of the Richmond City Council.[citation needed]

Thurmond was a member of the California Legislative Latino Caucus, California Legislative Black Caucus, and California Legislative Jewish Caucus.[citation needed]

Since 2004, Thurmond has pursued seven different elected offices: he ran unsuccessfully for Richmond City Council in 2004,[3] was elected to the Richmond City Council in 2006,[4] lost an election for State Assembly in 2008,[5] won an election to the West Contra Costa School Board in 2008,[6] created an exploratory committee for a potential State Senate campaign in 2009,[7] was elected to the State Assembly in 2014,[8] was re-elected to the State Assembly in 2016,[9] and announced his campaign for State Superintendent in 2017.[10]

Legislative record

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Thurmond speaking at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention

Thurmond's bills have adjusted court fine incarceration credits for inflation,[11] required the California Air Resources Board to reduce methane emissions,[12] protected due process rights for immigrant defendants,[13] expanded tobacco restrictions on school property,[14] and shifted funds from the prison system to local school districts to reduce truancy.[15]

On September 15, 2017, Thurmond introduced a resolution in the California State Assembly calling for the Congressional censure of President Donald Trump following his remarks after racially charged events in Charlottesville.[16]

State Assembly committees

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From 2015 to 2016, Thurmond was a member of the following committees:[17]

  • Labor and Employment Committee, Chair
  • Education Committee
  • Health Committee
  • Human Services Committee

Select committees

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  • Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education, Chair
  • Status of Boys and Men of Color
  • Technical Education and Building a 21st Century Workforce

State Superintendent

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On April 3, 2017, Thurmond launched his campaign for State Superintendent, choosing not to run for re-election for his seat in the State Assembly.[18] His campaign was supported by California's teachers' unions.[19] He won the November 2018 election, beating opponent Marshall Tuck, a Democrat and charter school advocate.[19]

On December 11, 2021, Politico reported that Thurmond had been instrumental in the July 2020 hiring of longtime associate Daniel Lee, "a psychologist, life coach and self-help author", for the position of "superintendent of equity" for the California Department of Education (CDE). Politico reported that the hiring of Lee, a Philadelphia resident up to when the report was published, appeared to violate California's residency requirement for state employees, which allows for few exceptions.[20] The position was never posted publicly, having been initially funded by part of a $700,000 grant by the Hewlett Foundation through the CDE's nonprofit affiliate "Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation" before being funded by California taxpayers, and paid up to a $179,832 salary; the report said Lee's resume showed no prior experience in California or relationships with school districts in the state.[20] On December 14, 2021, Lee resigned from the position.[21]

2026 California gubernatorial campaign

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On September 26, 2023, Thurmond announced via Twitter his run for governor of California in 2026, however ultimately placed 8th in the primary.[22]

Personal life

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Thurmond was introduced to Judaism by his cousins who practiced Hebrew Pentecostalism, and he maintains a connection to Jewish practice and community, guided by Rabbi Rebekah Stern of Congregation Beth El in Berkeley, California.[1] He describes himself as "a convert who’s never been through a formal conversion," and his Jewish identity informs his public service, including his work on Holocaust education and fighting antisemitism in California schools.[1]

Thurmond lives in Richmond, California.[23] He has two daughters.[23][24]

Electoral history

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2014

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California's 15th State Assembly district election, 2014
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Elizabeth Echols 21,664 31.1
Democratic Tony Thurmond 16,963 24.4
Democratic Pamela Price 11,898 17.1
Republican Rich Kinney 7,531 10.8
Democratic Sam Kang 4,630 6.7
Democratic Clarence Hunt 3,329 4.8
Peace and Freedom Eugene E. Ruyle 2,426 3.5
No party preference Bernt Rainer Wahl 1,132 1.6
Total votes 69,573 100.0
General election
Democratic Tony Thurmond 66,661 54.3
Democratic Elizabeth Echols 56,071 45.7
Total votes 122,732 100.0
Democratic hold

2016

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California's 15th State Assembly district election, 2016
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Thurmond (incumbent) 124,136 91.1
Republican Claire Chiara 12,083 8.9
Total votes 136,219 100.0
General election
Democratic Tony Thurmond (incumbent) 189,530 89.4
Republican Claire Chiara 22,528 10.6
Total votes 212,058 100.0
Democratic hold

2018

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2018 Superintendent of Public Instruction election[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Marshall Tuck 2,223,784 37.0
Nonpartisan Tony Thurmond 2,136,919 35.6
Nonpartisan Lily Ploski 984,932 16.4
Nonpartisan Steven Ireland 658,786 11.0
Nonpartisan Marco Amaral 547,389 8.7
Nonpartisan Douglas I. Vigil (write-in) 83 0.0
Nonpartisan Thomas L. Williams (write-in) 66 0.0
Total votes 6,004,570 100.0
Superintendent of Public Instruction runoff election[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Tony Thurmond 5,385,912 50.9
Nonpartisan Marshall Tuck 5,198,738 49.1
Total votes 10,584,650 100.0

2022

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2022 Superintendent of Public Instruction election[27][28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Tony Thurmond (incumbent) 2,881,684 45.9
Nonpartisan Lance Christensen 745,003 11.9
Nonpartisan Ainye E. Long 699,331 11.1
Nonpartisan George Yang 694,073 11.1
Nonpartisan Marco Amaral 547,389 8.7
Nonpartisan Jim Gibson 468,078 7.5
Nonpartisan Joseph Guy Campbell 241,984 3.9
Total votes 6,277,542 100.0
Superintendent of Public Instruction runoff election[29]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Tony Thurmond (incumbent) 5,681,315 63.7
Nonpartisan Lance Christensen 3,237,780 36.3
Total votes 8,919,085 100.0

2026

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2026 California gubernatorial election[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Xavier Becerra 2,591,857 27.98
Republican Steve Hilton 2,277,318 24.59
Democratic Tom Steyer 2,110,707 22.79
Republican Chad Bianco 941,708 10.17
Democratic Katie Porter 403,908 4.36
Democratic Matt Mahan 327,537 3.54
Democratic Antonio Villaraigosa 104,107 1.12
Democratic Tony Thurmond 63,762 0.69
Peace and Freedom Ramsey Robinson 51,803 0.56
Democratic Betty Yee (withdrawn) 40,873 0.44
Democratic Eric Swalwell (withdrawn) 28,164 0.30
Republican Tim Nelson 23,712 0.26
Green Butch Ware (write-in) 22,493 0.24
Republican Randeep S. Dhillon 21,937 0.24
Democratic Barack D. Obama Shaw 16,716 0.18
Democratic Carolina Buhler 15,013 0.16
Republican Leo Samuel Zacky 14,708 0.16
Republican Gretha Solórzano 12,563 0.14
Democratic Matthew Chase Levy 11,059 0.12
Libertarian Tom Woodard (withdrawn) 9,328 0.10
Democratic Erin "Zez" Zezulak 9,251 0.10
Democratic Louis A. De Barraicua 8,851 0.10
Democratic Mohammad Arif 8,458 0.09
Republican Leo Naranjo IV 8,099 0.09
No party preference Nancy D. Young 7,012 0.08
Republican James Athans Jr. 6,633 0.07
No party preference Joseph Cabrera 6,196 0.07
Republican David Zickefoose 5,882 0.06
Democratic Satish Rao 5,668 0.06
No party preference Christine R. Sarmiento 5,643 0.06
No party preference Jon Henderson 5,589 0.06
Republican Alicia Olivia Lapp 5,370 0.06
No party preference Amanda Martin 5,234 0.06
No party preference Frederic C. Schultz 5,230 0.06
Republican Rafael M. Hernandez 5,223 0.06
Democratic Scott P. Shields 5,043 0.05
Democratic Derek Grasty 4,994 0.05
Democratic Larry Azevedo 4,675 0.05
No party preference Elaine Culotti 4,483 0.05
Republican Patricia De Luca Basualdo 4,064 0.04
No party preference Mauro Alberto Orozco 4,052 0.04
Democratic Raji Rab 3,606 0.04
Democratic Sophia Edum-a-Sam 3,550 0.04
No party preference Brent Maupin 3,132 0.03
Democratic Akinyemi Agbede 3,037 0.03
No party preference Lewis Herms 2,995 0.03
No party preference Naomi Bar-Lev 2,744 0.03
No party preference Daniel Mercuri 2,667 0.03
Republican Ché Ahn (write-in) 2,419 0.03
Democratic Gary Howard Kidgell 2,415 0.03
Democratic Joel E. Jacob 2,350 0.03
Democratic Thunder Parley 2,320 0.03
No party preference Margaret Trowe 2,286 0.02
No party preference LivingForGod AndCountry DeMott 2,206 0.02
No party preference Reza Safarnejad 1,990 0.02
No party preference Duane Terrence Loynes Jr. 1,905 0.02
No party preference Don J. Grundmann 1,903 0.02
No party preference Anne Komarovsk 1,535 0.02
No party preference Dawit Kellel 1,360 0.01
No party preference Sam Sandak 1,222 0.01
No party preference Max Fomin 842 0.01
No party preference Lukasz Adam Filinski 527 0.01
No party preference Serge Fiankan 488 0.01
No party preference Sean Forbes (write-in) 22 0.00
Democratic Jibri J. Peavy (write-in) 10 0.00
No party preference Dirk Langer (write-in) 8 0.00
Democratic Kalid Meky (write-in) 5 0.00
No party preference Michael J. Dilger (write-in) 1 0.00
Total votes 9,262,468 100.00

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fishkoff, Sue (August 2, 2024). "California schools superintendent Tony Thurmond on his deep Jewish attachments— and the coming school year". The Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  2. ↑ "CA Assembly District 15". Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  3. ↑ Tascio, Liz (August 15, 2004). "Political races should be full of character; Contra County County's ballot shows well-known names and familiar faces hot issues mark dramatic election for candidates". Contra Costa Times.
  4. ↑ "Local election results; Contra Costa". San Francisco Chronicle. November 9, 2006.
  5. ↑ Oakley, Doug (June 3, 2008). "Skinner holds lead in Assembly District 14 race". Contra Costa Times.
  6. ↑ Wetzel, Kimberly S. (November 4, 2008). "West Contra Costa school board: Medrano, Thurmond win, defeating Pfeifer". Contra Costa Times.
  7. ↑ Wetzel, Kim (June 22, 2008). "West County school board member mulling state Senate run". Contra Costa Times.
  8. ↑ Oakley, Doug (November 5, 2014). "Assembly District 15: Tony Thurmond credits upset victory to daily precinct walks". Contra Costa Times.
  9. ↑ "California District 15 State Assembly Results: Tony Thurmond Wins". The New York Times. August 1, 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  10. ↑ Resmovits, Joy. "Assemblyman Tony Thurmond enters the state superintendent for public instruction race as a Trump foe". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Assemblymember Tony Thurmond's First Bill Signed Into Law - Assemblymember Tony Thurmond Representing the 15th California Assembly District". asmdc.org. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Thurmond Moves California a Step toward its Environmental Goals - Assemblymember Tony Thurmond Representing the 15th California Assembly District". asmdc.org. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Thurmond Bill To Ensure Due Process for Immigrant Defendants Signed Into Law - Assemblymember Tony Thurmond Representing the 15th California Assembly District". asmdc.org. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Schools Are Now Tobacco-Free - Assemblymember Tony Thurmond Representing the 15th California Assembly District". asmdc.org. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Thurmond's Student Absenteeism Law Generates $35 Million for Schools". Oakland Post. June 6, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  16. ↑ Corpuz, Mina (September 15, 2017). "California Assembly votes to support censure of Trump over comments on Charlottesville violence". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 27, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Thurmond Committees 2015–2016". California State Assembly Democratic Caucus. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016.
  18. ↑ Savidge, Nico. "California superintendent candidates oppose big money from special interests". EdSource. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  19. 1 2 Cano, Ricardo (November 18, 2018). "Tony Thurmond is the new schools chief. Now what?". Calmatters. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  20. 1 2 "He was hired to fix California schools — while running a business in Philadelphia". Politico. December 11, 2021. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  21. ↑ "California education official resigns amid criticism over East Coast residency, hiring process". Politico. December 14, 2021. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  22. ↑ "x.com".
  23. 1 2 "Tony Thurmond State Superintendent of Public Instruction". California Department of Education.
  24. ↑ "Tony Thurmond Becomes State Superintendent of Public Instruction, first Afro Latino and second African American to Hold Job". California Department of Education. January 7, 2019.
  25. ↑ "California June 7, 2022 Primary Statement of Vote" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  26. ↑ "General Election - Statement of the Vote, November 8, 2022" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  27. ↑ "CERTIFIED LIST OF CANDIDATES FOR THE JUNE 7, 2022, PRIMARY ELECTION" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  28. ↑ "Statement of Vote | June 7, 2022 Primary Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. July 15, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  29. ↑ "Statement of Vote | November 8, 2022 General Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. December 15, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Primary Election * June 2, 2026 - STATEMENT OF VOTE" (PDF). California Secretary of State. July 10, 2026. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 11, 2026. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
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