Hector Camacho
Chelsea Bonini
It’s too close to call who the next San Mateo County superintendent of schools will be, with less than 500 votes in between opponents Chelsea Bonini and Héctor Camacho, according to semiofficial results from the San Mateo County Election Office as of Tuesday night.
Bonini earned 50.4% of the vote, receiving 28,633 votes, while Camacho earned 49.6% and received 28,179 votes, as of 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The race is coming down to the wire between two candidates both operating within the county education’s orbit but approaching the job from two lenses of experience.
The Office of Education and its superintendent are responsible for providing to the county’s districts, particular fiscal oversight and ensuring legal compliance. It also oversees the county’s court and community schools, as well as special education programs.
Camacho is currently the executive director of Equity, Social Justice and Inclusion of the San Mateo County Office of Education. He has said he hopes to expand the Office of Education’s support for districts and ensure the most in need receive the appropriate attention.
Support to districts can be improved by reimagining the internal reworking of the Office of Education, Camacho believes. He hopes to take over an office of more than 300 that he’s worked within since 2025. Before, Camacho served on the Board of Education for 11 years.
“There’s a very big difference between a board member and an actual practitioner who knows what it means to create, bring people on board and implement a program, and see the results of that program and adjust,” Camacho said.
Bonini is trustee on the San Mateo County Board of Education, which works with the superintendent and Office of Education, and also approves budgets and support programs for students outside of other districts while hearing appeals for expulsions and charter schools.
One of Bonini’s reasons for running for superintendent was to mend a damaged dynamic between the Office of Education and Board of Education. As a member of the board, Bonini has said she’s felt disconnected from the workings of the superintendent — something she hopes to change through increased transparency.
“I have not had any more insight into [the Office of Education] as a board member than as a member of the public,” Bonini said previously. “If we’re not transparent about what we’re doing, they can’t be involved.
Whoever wins will be sworn into office to take over for interim Superintendent of Schools Marco Chávez, who was appointed to the position in February to fill a vacancy left by the early retirement of the late Nancy Magee. Magee endorsed Camacho upon her retirement.
Further results will be posted at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 4; Friday, June 5; Monday, June 8; Wednesday, June 10; Friday, June 12; and Monday, June 15. The election is to be certified Thursday, July 2.
(65) 344-5200 ext. 106
Daily Journal staff
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CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
The government thinks it can fix everything, there is no superglue. How about if the city fixed the streets and filled the 10,000 potholes
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