LAUSD Election Update: June’s Thin Ballot

“Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife."

— John Dewey, The School and Society

It has been a week of upheaval in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) as it grappled with the FBI raiding its superintendent's home and offices. After retreating behind closed doors, the board placed Carvalho on paid leave and anointed district bureaucrat Andres Chait as his acting replacement. Meanwhile, teachers continue to work without a contract while their union, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), remains in negotiations, backed by a 94% strike‑authorization vote.

Against this backdrop, candidates for the School Board scrambled to collect the last of the signatures they needed to appear on the ballot. With that process now closed, it appears that concerns about voters having a lack of choices were well-founded, as three of the eight prospective candidates failed to submit their petitions before the deadline.

The City Clerk still has to verify the signatures for two candidates, but even in a best-case scenario, there will be no more than two candidates in each of the three board district races. This means there are no possibility for runoff elections, and the winners will be decided in June.

The following is a breakdown of the races by Board District.

Board District 2:

Raquel Zamora was the only non-incumbent to turn in her petition in advance of the deadline. Her signatures have already been verified, and she is guaranteed a place on the ballot.

Incumbent Rocio Rivas turned in her petition on the last day allowed. If enough signatures are found to be valid, she will earn the right to defend her seat against Zamora.

Education advocate Joseph Quintana did not turn in his signatures. His campaign is over before it had a chance to begin.

Board District 4:

For the past week, incumbent Nick Melvoin has waited to learn whether he would face an opponent in June. At the deadline, Ankur Patel turned in his petitions. If enough are validated, he will attempt to deny the incumbent a chance at a third term.

The last-minute entrant, Benjamin-Shalom “Bo” Rodriguez, did not turn in the required signatures before the deadline. His race is over.

Board District 6:

Kelly Gonez will serve a third, and final, term on the LAUSD Board. John 'J.P.' Perron announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing from the race and did not turn in signatures to the City Clerk.

Despite barely earning reelection four years ago, Gonez has been handed another term without facing voters. As a result, she avoids public scrutiny over her role in renewing Superintendent Carvalho’s contract behind closed doors. That outcome reflects a failure not just of the electoral process, but of UTLA and other public education advocates who declined to field or support a challenger.

What Comes Next:

The candidates whose signatures are successfully validated have 89 days to make their cases to voters in Los Angeles. Election day is June 2, 2026. Ballots will start mailing out on May 4, 2026. You can check the status of your voter registration with the California Secretary of State.

The past week has exposed the fragility of governance inside the nation’s second-largest school district—and the largest with an elected school board. While LAUSD reels from an unprecedented FBI raid and a superintendent placed on leave, voters are being offered some of the thinnest School Board fields in recent memory. The absence of meaningful electoral competition only reinforces the sense that LAUSD’s leadership is drifting further from the communities it serves.