Superintendent race still one-man show

The Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools election is still a
one-man race after a rumored candidacy by retired county deputy
superintendent Jerry Johnson failed to emerge.
Johnson put that speculation to rest on Tuesday morning,
announcing he had decided against running for the office. As of
Tuesday only Steve Herrington, the current superintendent for the
Windsor Unified School District, has named himself a candidate.
Incumbent Carl Wong announced in December that he would retire
after eight years in office, a decision that means challengers will
not need to run against an incumbent.
Last week news circulated through the educational community that
Johnson, a longtime deputy superintendent at the Sonoma County
Office of Education, had pulled paperwork from the Registrar of
Voters to run for office. Johnson later confirmed that he had
pulled papers but said he hadn’t decided if he’d run.
“Frankly, I haven’t made up my mind,” he said Friday, Feb. 26.
“I’m taking the steps now so in a couple weeks it’ll be easy to go
in and drop off [election papers] if I decide to run. There still
might be other candidates, and I want to see if there are others
who might have interest. At this point it appears not.”
Candidates for public office must fill out a candidacy packet
before running for office, paperwork that is usually picked up well
in advance of the filing deadline. While a citizen may decide
against running for office after pulling paperwork, the act of
doing so is documented and made a matter of public record.
While Johnson had not made a decision, news that he had pulled
the papers—and was thus interested in running — spread quickly and
he soon found himself answering calls from journalists. On Tuesday
morning he called reporters and said he had decided not to run
after all. “I’m happy with my retirement,” he said.
Johnson considered coming out of retirement to help county
school districts weather the financial storm that has afflicted the
state in recent years. He was also surprised that the office had
only attracted one candidate. “I thought there’d be more interest
and I think this office deserves more coverage and exposure,” he
said.
The Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools is charged with
providing leadership, support and fiscal oversight for 40 school
districts and 71,000 students. The elected position also serves as
the chief executive officer for the Sonoma County Office of
Education and as the intermediary between county school districts
and the California Department of Education.
In November Herrington announced he would run for election.
Numerous educational leaders said Wong had privately told
superintendents throughout the county that he would retire, opening
the door for new candidates to run for the office.
Wong has since personally signed Herrington’s candidacy petition
but said he would support all candidates and endorse none. “I made
it clear that as an incumbent that I wasn’t going to endorse any
one candidate but I’m a firm believer in the election process,” he
said. “I have confidence that Dr. Herrington will be a fine
candidate for office.”
The Registrar of Voters said Tuesday that only Herrington and
Johnson had pulled papers and that no other candidates have made
themselves known. With Wong not running for reelection, the filing
period for Superintendent of Schools will be extended from March 12
to March 17. The election will be held on June 8.