Big showing by little-known Larry Aceves
The Association of California School Administrators had to convince Larry Aceves, a retired superintendent from a small district in San Jose, to run for state superintendent as a long-shot candidate.
The bet on Aceves – ACSA’s first big foray into the campaign for superintendent of public instruction – is looking pretty smart today. Even with only 18.8 percent of the vote total in a 12-candidate race, Aceves was the top vote-getter Tuesday and, with Democratic Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, will be in the runoff election in November.
Aceves’ unexpected showing means there won’t be a knock-down, head-to-head, polarizing battle between surrogates for California Teachers Association, which spent $1.5 million on behalf of Torlakson, and the pro-charter school advocacy group EdVoice, which threw its wealthy funders’ money behind Sen. Gloria Romero. While only 1.6 percentage points separated her and Aceves, she’s out of the running in third, with 17.2 percent, 0.8 percent behind Torlakson, though hundreds of thousands of ballots statewide have yet to be counted (see here for statewide and county totals).
Aceves won, despite coming in third in his own backyard, Santa Clara County. And Romero lost despite winning in Los Angeles, the biggest county and her hometown.
But quirky things can happen in an anti-incumbent year, with a low voter turnout of 25 percent – and even lower in vote-heavy Los Angeles (19.6 percent turnout,
The bet on Aceves – ACSA’s first big foray into the campaign for superintendent of public instruction – is looking pretty smart today. Even with only 18.8 percent of the vote total in a 12-candidate race, Aceves was the top vote-getter Tuesday and, with Democratic Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, will be in the runoff election in November.
Aceves’ unexpected showing means there won’t be a knock-down, head-to-head, polarizing battle between surrogates for California Teachers Association, which spent $1.5 million on behalf of Torlakson, and the pro-charter school advocacy group EdVoice, which threw its wealthy funders’ money behind Sen. Gloria Romero. While only 1.6 percentage points separated her and Aceves, she’s out of the running in third, with 17.2 percent, 0.8 percent behind Torlakson, though hundreds of thousands of ballots statewide have yet to be counted (see here for statewide and county totals).
Aceves won, despite coming in third in his own backyard, Santa Clara County. And Romero lost despite winning in Los Angeles, the biggest county and her hometown.
But quirky things can happen in an anti-incumbent year, with a low voter turnout of 25 percent – and even lower in vote-heavy Los Angeles (19.6 percent turnout,
