This story was originally published by EdSource.
A superintendent from a tiny school district in Kern County, working with only a dozen volunteers over three months, garnered at least 670,000 votes in her bid for California superintendent of public instruction, despite taking no campaign contributions.
Wendy Castañeda Leal, 42, superintendent and principal of Semitropic Elementary School District in Wasco, came in fourth place in the primary, beating out six other candidates, including three veteran state legislators.
Instead of relying on costly television ads and billboards, Castañeda Leal employed the old-fashioned phone tree approach. She called friends and former colleagues to discuss her platform, encouraged them to call two or three friends on her behalf and then asked those friends to call more people.
Castañeda Leal and her campaign manager, Kenneth Henry, were surprised she did so well with such a short campaign and limited resources.
“It’s not always about the money,” said Henry on Friday, as the vote count ticked upward.
Sometimes a more personal campaign resonates — letting people get a chance to really know what you stand for, Henry said.
Ballot designation matters
Democratic political consultant Andrew Acosta and political analyst Dan Schnur agree that Castañeda Leal’s success is more likely connected to the three words next to her name on the ballot — school district superintendent.
“In these races where voters can’t see party affiliation and have heard very little about any of the candidates, they are forced to use the only other data point that matters — ballot designation,” Acosta said. “Nothing screams experience for this job like being a school superintendent.”
The lack of attention given the race this year by voters and the media, and Castañeda Leal’s Latino surname, may also have given her a boost, Schnur said.
“In a down-ticket race, with the high-profile campaign for governor and for Congress, and in the absence of great amounts of spending from other candidates, this all makes logical sense,” Schnur said of Castañeda Leal’s success.
Castañeda Leal will try again
The windfall of primary votes was enough to encourage Castañeda Leal to try again in 2030. She hopes that four years of campaigning, instead of only three months, will land her the state’s top education job.
“I’ve learned a lot from this race,” she said. “I mean, it was really just volunteers, my connections I had with people, just talking.”
Castañeda Leal said she didn’t start campaigning until a week before the deadline for candidates to file on March 6, because that’s when she was finally fed up with her students’ circumstances and decided to run for the office.
Semitropic Elementary School District has one K-8 school with 150 students and seven teachers. The majority of the students, 97%, come from low-income families. Twenty-seven of the school’s families are unhoused.
“I never expected to have students that couldn’t take showers because they had no running water and couldn’t heat up their house during the winter,” Castañeda Leal said.
Basic needs must be met
Her first mission after taking the superintendent’s job at the district two years ago was to start a resource center with a shower, washer and dryer, and kitchen for community families to use. There is clean underwear, shampoo, conditioner and all the essentials someone might need, she said. Community members can take part in a clothing swap and pick up food boxes or cook meals at the center.
The services are necessary for these students, who are expected to meet the same academic standards as students whose essential needs are met, Castañeda Leal said.
If Castañeda Leal could expand one initiative statewide, it would be the family resource center, she said. She also wants to strengthen bilingual education and expand access to dual immersion programs.
“My vision for California is to have an equitable system where students of all demographics, of all systems, of all ZIP codes have the same opportunity,” she said.
Castañeda Leal said her own experiences shaped that vision. She grew up in low-income housing in New York City, supported by government assistance programs. Her mother emigrated from Mexico, her father from Peru. Along the way, she said, caring teachers helped her succeed.
Before becoming superintendent of Semitropic Elementary School District, Castañeda Leal worked in the Newark Unified School District in the Bay Area and the Roseland School District in Santa Rosa.
She has also served as deputy director of educational initiatives for the Native American Education Program with New York City Public Schools, and worked in schools in Georgia and on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian reservations in South Dakota, according to her campaign website.
“I always knew that I became who I was because of the opportunities that I received and, so, I wanted to give back to the community,” she said.