Voters Pass Prop. 3 School Tax and Elect Barrera State Schools Chief

California voters reshaped education finance and statehouse representation this week, permanently locking in high-earner income tax revenues for public schools under Proposition 3, electing San Diego trustee Richard Barrera as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, expanding the Democratic legislative supermajority in Sacramento, and returning Silicon Valley U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo to Congress with a focus on artificial intelligence governance and household affordability.

Voters Approve Proposition 3 by 59% to Make High-Earner School Tax Permanent

California voters approved Proposition 3 by a 59% to 41% margin, permanently extending the top 12.3% personal income tax bracket on individuals earning more than $371,000 per year and married couples filing jointly above $743,000.

First enacted by voters under Proposition 30 in 2012 and extended through 2031 by Proposition 55 in 2016, the high-earner tax generates between $5 billion and $15 billion annually depending on capital gains realizations—accounting for up to 15% of total state public education funding. Under Proposition 98 formulas, revenues are dedicated 89% to K-12 public school districts and 11% to California community colleges. The California Teachers Association (CTA) anchored the campaign, spending nearly $60 million and mobilizing volunteers to knock on more than 200,000 doors statewide.

Richard Barrera Elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction with 57.7%

In the nonpartisan statewide race to lead the California Department of Education, longtime San Diego Unified School District trustee Richard Barrera defeated Chino Valley Unified school board member Sonja Shaw, who formally conceded the contest.

With 100% of precincts reporting initial tallies, Barrera captured 57.7% of the vote (4,095,752 votes) to Shaw's 42.3% (3,005,575 votes), succeeding outgoing State Superintendent Tony Thurmond.

Democrats Expand Legislative Supermajority Across Senate and Assembly Races

In Sacramento, updated state legislative returns as of 3:03 p.m. Thursday show Democrats expanding their supermajorities in both chambers for the 2027 session, winning or leading in 16 of the 20 even-numbered state Senate seats on the ballot and 64 of the 80 state Assembly seats:

• Key Senate & Assembly Battlegrounds: In Orange County's 36th Senate District, Democrat Chris Duncan leads Republican Sen. Tony Strickland 50.4% to 49.6%, a margin of 0.8%. In the Sacramento suburbs, Democrat Amy Slavensky leads Assembly Republican Leader Josh Hoover 52.5% to 47.5%. Elsewhere in Southern California, Republican Assembly incumbents trail in three competitive districts: Jeff Gonzalez trails 40.9% to 59.1%, Leticia Castillo trails 39.4% to 60.6%, and Greg Wallis trails 44% to 56%.
• Board of Equalization & Congressional Transitions: Democratic Assemblyman Mike Gipson won his Board of Equalization seat with 58.8%, while Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove lost the District 1 Board of Equalization contest to Democrat Nelson Esparza. Meanwhile, four prominent Democratic state lawmakers—Sens. Scott Wiener, Mike McGuire, and Aisha Wahab, along with Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin—won elections to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rep. Sam Liccardo Focuses Second Term on Affordability and Bipartisan AI Safety

In the South Bay, newly reelected U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo outlined a second-term congressional agenda centered on housing and utility affordability alongside federal artificial intelligence guardrails.

Liccardo pointed to bipartisan AI safety legislation he introduced in September—developed after more than 1,300 technology industry employees signed a July open letter calling for whistleblower protections and frontier model oversight. The measure also urges the federal government to negotiate a binding U.S.-China AI safety agreement and establish a bilateral crisis hotline to prevent autonomous military escalation. At the local level, Liccardo said Congress must address electricity rate pressures as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta pour an estimated $720 billion into global data center infrastructure in 2026.