A spokesman for Tuck’s campaign confirmed Sunday that the race was over and that Tuck had conceded Saturday morning in a phone call to Thurmond.

Thurmond out his thanks to voters on Saturday and said in a statement, “I intend to be a champion of public schools and a Superintendent for all California students. I ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction to deliver to all Californians the promise that public education delivered to me — that all students, no matter their background and no matter their challenges, can succeed with a great public education.”

I want to thank the voters of CA for electing me to serve the 6 million students of CA. I intend to be a champion of public schools & a Superintendent for all CA students. I want to thank Marshall Tuck for his gracious call to congratulate me & wish me well. Time to get to work!

— Tony Thurmond (@TonyThurmond)

Thurmond, 50, is a state assemblyman and a former social worker and school board member in the San Francisco Bay area. He had the backing of the powerful teachers union and other organized labor groups throughout the state. Every state superintendent in the past has won with teacher union support.

Tuck, 45, had an 86,000-vote lead after Election Day, but as provisional and mail-in ballots were counted, that margin evaporated, and Thurmond’s lead is now nearly three times what Tuck’s was. Results will not be official until all votes are counted — about 2 million remain — and are certified in December.

The 325,000-member California Teachers Association “phone-banked, texted, canvassed and volunteered for candidates like Tony who want quality public schools,” CTA president Eric C. Heins . “����’s clear that educators played a pivotal role in this election.”

The state superintendent job lacks partisan affiliation, carries little statutory power, and has not historically set its occupants on a path to higher office. But the record $60 million spent on the race proved it was a sought-after bully pulpit. A win for Tuck would have given education reformers a public counterweight against Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, the new state board of education that he will appoint, and the Democratic majority in the state legislature — all of which were elected with union backing.

The race centered on California’s debate over school choice, pitting Thurmond against Tuck, who was supported by the California Charter Schools Association Advocates and wealthy reformers. Both are Democrats, oppose for-profit charters, and called for more transparency measures. But Thurmond suggested that a “pause” on new charter schools might be necessary until new revenues are found to offset the dollars that districts lose when their students move to charters. Tuck argued that school districts should not be allowed to reject new charter petitions because of the financial hardship that might result.

Both candidates also agreed on adding more recognized subgroups of students who are underachieving —��such as African Americans —��to the state’s Local Control Funding Formula, which provides additional funding for English-learning, low-income, homeless, and foster students. They also agreed on free preschool for all children across the state and additional mental health support for students.

But Tuck had vowed to fight for changes in how school districts are allowed to spend the extra funding. The current superintendent has said the money can be used for across-the-board raises for teachers. Tuck vowed to end that. Thurmond declined to say if he would continue it, reported.

Bill Lucia, president and CEO of EdVoice, said by email Monday, “We wish Mr. Thurmond nothing but success in delivering on campaign promises made to parents with children being failed by the current system. The first test will be whether he follows through or reneges on the explicit promise to reverse Superintendent Torlakson’s ill-advised decision to redirect funds for across-the-board pay raises from extra help intended for English learners and kids in poverty. Fixing broken California public schools will require tough and unpopular decisions that will likely upset the special interests that funded his campaign. Hopefully, he can find the courage to stand tall and do it.”

EdVoice is a California education advocacy organization that supported Tuck’s campaign.

The heated contest featured disputes over negative advertising and became the most expensive race in the nation for a state superintendent — for the second time. Tuck narrowly lost in 2014 to Tom Torlakson, who served two four-year terms and is now termed out. That race cost $30 million. This time, the candidates raked in twice that — more than any House race this cycle and all but a handful of the most expensive Senate races. Tuck took in the lion’s share, outspending Thurmond roughly 2-1.

Tuck was president of Green Dot Public Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization started in 1999 in Los Angeles, as well as the founding CEO of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a network created a decade ago by former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after his failed attempt to take over the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Tuck wrote to his supporters Saturday, “I just spoke with Assemblymember Thurmond and congratulated him on his victory. I offered to help him be successful and wished him the best in his new role. Given it has become clear that we are not going to win this campaign, I felt it was in the best interest of California’s children for me to concede now so that Assemblymember Thurmond has as much time as possible to plan to take over as State Superintendent (all votes will still be counted but conceding allows candidates to move forward).”

He added, “I recognize that change is very hard and politics, particularly when you lose, can be disheartening. I remind myself that winning the election isn’t the end goal. The end goal is that all children in this state and country, regardless of background, get access to quality public schools. Reaching that goal is going to take a lot of work and absolutely requires us to get over this loss quickly. We must continue to be extremely determined to do our part to help our children.”

Across the country, teachers ran for office this year, inspiring almost as many �� stories as Texas’s and drawing widespread attention to state legislative races that otherwise wouldn’t break into national headlines.

When the votes were counted, educators scored some notable wins, but it was far from a sweep for teacher candidates. But even with mixed results, teachers are saying the fight isn’t over.

In some of the highest-profile races of the night, educators came out on top. 2016 National Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in Connecticut. Former teacher and state schools chief Tony Evers , defeating incumbent Scott Walker, who’s known for stripping the state’s teachers unions of collective bargaining rights.

At least nationwide won state legislative seats this month, according to Education Week, which tallied 177 current classroom teachers who ran in primaries and general elections this year.

The National Education Association reported that 1,081 educator-candidates won state legislative races, out of who ran in November, according to the . Other watchers called those numbers exaggerated because they used a much broader definition of “educator” that included support staff, college professors, and those who taught years earlier.

NEA President Lily Eskelsen-García said at an Education Writers Association event last week that the #RedForEd movement, which emerged during the teacher walkouts, was about bringing attention to schools and raising teachers’ voices, not just winning elections.

“The movement snowballed into this incredible effort we saw across the country. We had an unprecedented number (of teachers) who said ‘Yes, I will be a candidate.'” –

— Emily Richmond (@EWAEmily)

NEA Prez . The movement wasn’t about wins or loses. ����’s about shining a spotlight on the chronic neglect of our schools and deciding to do something about it. This is our movement.

— NEA Public Relations (@NEAMedia)

Much of the media attention ahead of Election Day focused on teachers who ran on education-heavy platforms for state legislative seats in Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Arizona, red states that saw widespread teacher walkouts in the spring.

In Oklahoma, 16 current or former educators were elected to the state House or Senate, out of 65 who ran, . That number includes Republican Sherrie Conley, a school administrator who defeated retired teacher and former teachers union organizer Steve Jarman to represent Oklahoma House District 20. The Oklahoma Education Association tweeted support for Conley when she won but did not endorse or donate to either candidate during the general election campaign.

Congratulations Sherrie Conley! New representative for House District 20!

— OK Education Assoc. (@okea)

Conley said she has been “thrilled” by the increased political engagement she saw from parents in her community throughout the campaign. That would have been a step forward whether she won or lost, she said.

“Parents … have engaged their children in the process, and I’m hoping that it will raise up a stronger group of voters that will be more engaged and more educated in the process in the future,” she told The 74 after her victory.

At least also won state legislative seats in Oklahoma.

In Kentucky, which also had statewide teacher , high school math teacher R. Travis Brenda by opposing a controversial pension reform plan championed by the incumbent, House Republican leader Jonathan Shell. He easily won the general election against Democrat Mary Renfro, who also touted her support for teachers and opposition to the pension reform .

Brenda told The 74 before the election that he was running as “a conservative Republican in a Republican district.” For Brenda, his upset primary victory was much tougher —��he won by just —��than the general election.

The last several months have been an exciting journey. First and foremost, the glory goes to God for leading me through this process. Second, thank you to everyone that helped knock on doors, share Facebook posts, tell their friends and neighbors, etc. We did this together.

— R. Travis Brenda (@RTravisBrenda)

After his victory, Brenda said he thinks his profile as a Republican who had backing from labor unions, educators, and a range of other groups helped him win.

One of the closest races was for superintendent of public instruction in Arizona, where teachers won a raise after a this spring. School speech therapist and Democrat Kathy Hoffman ran against Republican Frank Riggs, formerly a congressman from California. During the campaign, Riggs criticized Hoffman for lacking the leadership experience to succeed in the job, while Hoffman stressed that an educator should oversee the school system.

Hoffman Sunday, and she was officially the winner Monday evening. She will be the first Democratic superintendent since 1995. Meanwhile, Riggs declined to immediately concede, instead attacking journalists and political operatives in a Sunday night. He later deleted the tweets and temporarily deactivated his account; he also apologized in a sent to the Arizona Republic. He later conceded .

BREAKING Democrat , political newcomer & speech pathologist w 5 years experience in schools, declares victory over Republican Frank Riggs in race for Arizona school superintendent.

— BrahmResnik (@brahmresnik)

I guess I can join the “blocked by Frank Riggs on Twitter” club? But saw I *~missed some tweets~* when I went to bed early last night?

— Lily Altavena (@lilyalta)

In California, one teacher who came in a distant second in the primary won even without the support of teachers unions.

Even though Susan Rubio was a public school teacher for 17 years, the California Federation of Teachers and United Teachers Los Angeles endorsed her , Mike Eng, in the race for a state Senate seat in east Los Angeles County. She by about 5 percentage points.

Rubio told The 74 in an email that it was “heartbreaking” that she didn’t get those endorsements, but she believes voters elected her because she has more personal ties to the community, in part because of her teaching background.

“As a teacher and councilwoman, there wasn’t a life story I hadn’t heard or had personally experienced,” she wrote.

While ballots are still being counted, I’m confident that the results will show that I will be the next Senator from the SGV. Without your support, encouragement and engagement, we would never have won this race. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve.

— Susan Rubio (@HonSusanRubio)

However, while many educators lost their bids for public office, some have already indicated they’re not finished with politics just yet.

Aimy Steele, who lost a race for the North Carolina House of Representatives, also posted that she has her eyes set on 2020 “in some capacity.”

Jarman, who lost his bid for the Oklahoma House race that Conley won, that “this is no time to whine and whimper. If anything it is time to regroup. It’s time to be smarter and plan ahead.”

Jennifer Samuels, a Democrat and middle school teacher who lost her race for an Arizona House of Representatives seat, pointed to the number of winning teacher-candidates in Oklahoma as a bright spot for education on Election Day, as well as Hayes’s victory in Connecticut. She also sees Arizona voters’ rejection of Proposition 305, which would have vastly expanded education savings accounts in the state, as a win for public education.

Well Done and Arizona voters! Thank you for protecting our public schools.

— Jennifer Samuels, M.Ed (@SamuelsforAZ)

Samuels told The 74 that she is considering running for the seat again in 2020 and will work to hold her elected officials accountable in the meantime.

“We’ll be watching,” she said on , telling , “����’s about the long game for us.”

We’ll be watching , and John Allen. Our schools are still missing $700 million in funding from 2008 and need smaller class sizes and repaired infrastructure. Do the right thing. AZ supports public schools.

— Jennifer Samuels, M.Ed (@SamuelsforAZ)

The 74 talked to a dozen teachers running for office across the nation before the midterms. See how they fared:

Teachers who won in the general election:

• is a high school math teacher and a Republican who successfully ran for state representative in Kentucky’s 71st District. During the Republican primary, who was seen as a key proponent of the controversial change to state teachers’ pensions earlier this year.

• , a Democrat who worked as a teacher and administrator for 17 years, successfully ran to represent California’s District 22 in the state Senate. In addition to her work as an educator, Rubio is an advocate for women who have experienced domestic abuse.

• is a Republican who successfully ran to represent Oklahoma’s House District 20. She taught for 15 years and is currently in her second year as an administrator.

• , projected to be Arizona’s next superintendent of public instruction, taught for two years and was a speech therapist in a school for five years.

Teachers who lost in the general election:

• , a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in Nebraska with gubernatorial candidate Bob Krist. Walz was elected to the state legislature in 2016 and is currently a real estate agent as well, but she taught for six years in the 1990s and early 2000s.

• , a Democrat, lost her race for the Arizona state House of Representatives. Samuels is in her eighth year as a classroom teacher.

• , a Democrat, opposed Conley for the Oklahoma House District 20 seat. Jarman retired 10 years ago after 31 years of teaching.

• , a Democrat, lost his bid for a seat in the Arizona state House of Representatives. He is in his second year of teaching.

• , a Republican, is a retired teacher who lost her bid for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

• , a Democrat, lost her bid for a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives. Before resigning in the spring to focus on her campaign, she was a teacher for seven years and an administrator for six years. Steele lost in the general election.

• , a Democrat, lost her bid for a seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

One teacher in Arizona is in a race that is too close to call:

• was Arizona’s 2016 Teacher of the Year and is a Democrat running for state Senate to represent Legislative District 28. She was trailing opponent Kate Brophy McGee by 549 votes as of the released Monday evening.

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of the 2018 midterms; see our complete coast-to-coast “EDlection Cheat Sheet” of the 70 races with the broadest impact for education policy. Get the latest updates on races, candidates, and our new elected leaders delivered straight to your inbox — sign up for The 74 Newsletter.

That year’s , fueled by conservative backlash to the still-young Obama administration, swamped Democratic-held statehouses in Michigan, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Kansas, Maine, and elsewhere, and led to the passage of a raft of ambitious changes to education policy. passed laws either establishing or expanding voucher programs and education savings accounts (ESAs) in the first six months of 2011. Many of the same new governors acted swiftly to . And partly due to cash flow problems in the depths of the Great Recession, began cutting state aid to schools.

Eight years later, we have arrived at something of a reversal: After a spring awakening of teacher strikes, the 2018 midterms have delivered Democrats the U.S. House of Representatives and seven new governorships — including in Michigan, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Kansas, and Maine.

For observers of education and politics alike, the key questions are these: How did the #Red4Ed movement, with its swarms of T-shirted educators organizing over school funding and teacher pay, influence this year’s historic election results? And with the mini-epoch of conservative reform fading, in which direction will Democratic officeholders move policy?

As with most election cycles, results from diverse regional electorates can be ambiguous and sometimes completely contradictory. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, considered Public Enemy No. 1 by teachers unions, was narrowly felled by a Democratic superintendent of schools. Democrats also swept into power in neighboring Michigan and — most surprising of all — Kansas, where drove former governor Sam Brownback’s approval ratings into the ground. But voters in Oklahoma, home to some of the most bitter teachers strikes this year, favored Republican Kevin Stitt by a wide margin.

The paradoxes were apparent even within states. Arizonans comfortably re-elected Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who tangled with striking teachers before approving a sizable raise; at the same time, they heartily rejected a ballot referendum to expand ESAs, a signal Republican priority. Coloradans elevated Governor-elect Jared Polis, a Democrat who has called for higher education revenues, even as to raise those very revenues.

Ultimately, Democratic governors will not be empowered to implement their favored progressive education policies — many championed higher spending, especially to expand state-funded pre-K programs, as well as limitations on charter schools and voucher programs — in the same way their Republicans predecessors were after 2010. Moreover, the vaunted class of teacher-candidates who sought state and local office were .

Even as education helped to turn the tide in a few major races this fall, some local experts said that it was hard to identify how big a role the issue played. Jon Shelton, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, said that Scott Walker’s defeat may have owed as much to the governor’s troubled bid to woo electronics giant Foxconn as to his reputation as a foe of teachers unions. Originally intended to bolster the governor’s reputation as a steward of jobs, the optics of the deal quickly curdled within the state.

“It showed the extent to which education can’t be separated from these other political issues,” he told The 74 in an interview. “In spite of the fact that [Democratic candidate, now Governor-elect] Tony Evers was superintendent, the election in our state was about a lot of other things too, and people motivated to vote against Trump nationally.”

Still, he added, circumstances in particular states may have made the fate of schools seem more pressing. In Kansas, where budget shortfalls have made a common occurrence, some of the country’s most conservative voters gave their support to Democrat Laura Kelly.

“You have to imagine a lot of the reason we have a Democratic governor in Kansas is the draconian policies under [former governor] Brownback, which really crippled public education and other public services in the state,” Shelton said. “Clearly, Wisconsin’s results had a lot to do with … the dramatic disinvestment in public education, the changes in teacher working conditions and how school districts operate. Lots of school districts are taxing themselves at ever-higher rates to make up for the significant education cuts in state aid. So the local aspect is very important, and it gets refracted in different ways in different states.”

Local political conditions, such as a given state’s typical partisan bent, made certain areas a tougher lift than others. In purple Wisconsin, an education debate helped unseat Scott Walker. But in red Arizona and Oklahoma, Republicans easily dispatched their opponents.

Still, Democrats saw opportunities in states that have rarely been competitive for them. According to longtime Arizona pollster and political observer Mike O’Neil, Gov. Ducey’s victory could have gone the other way had he not deftly negotiated his state’s teacher strike this April. After initially fighting the union’s demands, and promised a multiyear, 20 percent raise — one of the most generous salary hikes in the country. That volte-face likely helped take the wind out of the protest movement’s sails.

“Ducey handled it early,” O’Neil told The 74. “He said, ‘Here’s your 20 percent.’ Essentially, the #Red4Ed people won on the substance because, in part, Ducey gave in when he had to. He got on board just on time, and every speech was about how wonderful teachers are and how important education is. He totally defused it as an issue.”

He noted that Democrats made important gains in the state apart from the governor’s race, in the state House and Senate. Though the outcome is still to be decided, Democrat Kathy Hoffman over her Republican opponent in the ultra-close state superintendent’s race. O’Neil also believes that a referendum to raise taxes for school aid, before being controversially sidelined by the state Supreme Court, stood a good chance of being approved.

“I’m absolutely convinced it would have passed,” he said. “It got plenty of signatures, but they found some technical reason in the language to bounce it off … So I would reject the notion that the education thing fizzled here, even if there were some structural obstacles that kept them from winning big-time.”

The principal obstacle, Arizona’s native red tendencies, was also apparent in states like Ohio, Iowa, South Dakota, and Oklahoma, where some high-profile Democratic candidates fell short of the mark. But even in states where the the party broke through, victorious candidates won’t always have total freedom to work their will.

In Nevada, New Mexico, and Maine, Governor-elects Steve Sisolak, Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Janet Mills will benefit from Democratic control in their state legislatures. But Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, much like Wisconsin’s Evers and Kansas’s Kelly, will have to forge tough deals with very conservative Republican majorities that have been . That will undoubtedly pare back their ambitions.

Michael Hartney, a politics professor at Boston College, said in an interview that he thought #Red4Ed had earned some important victories in spite of the incomplete success at flipping governorships.

“Did educators have a big impact? I never thought it would be an educator takeover, but the pendulum did start to swing back,” he told The 74. “I think the unions took advantage of an election that was always going to be good for the Democrats. If you take the Walker piece, the [Arizona] voucher referendum … that tells me the unions had a pretty good night. And I don’t think that discounts the importance of fundamentals; I think that the fundamentals are that, most of the time, organized teachers’ interests do pretty well on teacher-specific things.”

Now the focus turns to the future. Teachers marching under the banner of #Red4Ed have won a few victories, both at the negotiating table and the ballot box. They’ve also seen the limits of grassroots organizing. In Arizona, where the ESA referendum was crushed last Tuesday, the still-Republican state legislators on the statehouse floor. With the bright lights turned instead to the upcoming 2020 presidential election, it’s anyone’s guess whether teachers will be prepared to beat the sidewalks again.

“The unanswered question is: Is it sustainable?” said O’Neil. “What about next year, when they’re getting their next raise and things are kind of getting better? Sustaining a movement is very difficult.”

In Arizona,��nearly two-thirds of voters rejected a bid by lawmakers to provide education savings accounts to all students.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker, a villain of teachers unions,��lost his bid for a third term to state Superintendent Tony Evers, who wants to overturn limits on collective bargaining and the state’s voucher program.

In Michigan,��Gretchen Whitmer won the governor’s contest�� “end the DeVos agenda in Michigan.”

But are those losses truly caused by voters rejecting specific education reform proposals, or are they the collateral damage of other political trends, including a repudiation of President Trump?

Rick Hess, director of education policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said that while very few people cited education as their top electoral concern, some of the results stand as a rejection of what he called “the hard-edged definitions of school reform.”

“Voters showed, and policymakers showed, a massive distaste for a lot of where school reform has brought us,” Hess said at a panel Wednesday.

of gubernatorial primary candidates’ education platforms, in fact, showed that most concentrated on a far more bipartisan issue: career and technical education. Few mentioned testing or accountability, and almost none did so positively.

There was a movement away from the reforms that have been “bitter and hostile and frustrating,” he added. “Folks in the education space would be well served by taking a big deep breath.”

Others, however, cautioned not to be too myopic about the importance of education. All elections are local, particularly when it comes to education, and to the extent the midterms were about any larger national themes, they centered on issues like health care and immigration.

And, in fairness, education reform did have some wins in the midterms, like Jared Polis’s��primary win for Colorado governor, when he fended off a union-backed candidate on his way��to winning the general election Tuesday.

“I think we have to be careful not to over-interpret any of this in terms of education, because it was such a peripheral issue,” said Mike Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative think tank.

Ed reform policies like tough standards and rigorous teacher evaluation, once considered more centrist and bipartisan, have lost some magic in our increasingly polarized political era.

“We are at a very low point in education policy. There hasn’t been this little activity — sort of new, big ideas — for 20 years. I think that period started two years ago, and we’re still in the middle of it, and there’s just not an appetite,” he said.

The bipartisan coalition that supported education reform through the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies has weakened, said Tom Loveless, an education researcher formerly with the Brookings Institution. He blamed that faltering coalition on disappointing results.

“I do think we’re at some kind of turning point, or we have already turned, and school reform does not have the same kind of political firepower that it had five, 10, 15 years ago,” he said.

That distaste for, or disinterest in, education reform may have some real consequences.

The void of voter and policymaker interest in the middle leaves a “titanic battle at the top among the extremes,” said Sandy Kress, a senior education policy adviser to President George W. Bush. With no center, the combatants are teachers unions and their allies on the left, and extreme anti-tax and government control advocates on the right, he said.

New Mexico has been one of the exemplars of education reform, with well-known state chiefs driving hard on issues like test-based teacher evaluations, A-F school grades, and rigorous standards. Voters Tuesday elected Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, who campaigned on overturning those reforms, particularly teacher evaluations.

What once was “one of the states that was really holding firm” to those initiatives now “seems very likely it will not be in that camp in two years’ time,” Hess said.

In Nevada, the��Democratic sweep of state government, the first time the party has held the governor’s mansion and state Assembly and Senate since 1992, almost assuredly means lawmakers won’t move to find a new funding source for their universal education savings account program, and could jeopardize the future of its state takeover district.

Rather than pushing for more big reforms, education advocates should build on initiatives already in the works, like implementing the Common Core or improving charter quality, Petrilli said.

“We’ve got to wait. To some degree, we’ve got to hunker down and wait for the politics to hopefully return to normal,” he said.

Several advocates interviewed said the lack of political attention may actually be a good thing, allowing the work to continue out of the political fray.

If voters care more about issues like health care, the economy, and LGBTQ rights, “if you can bring together a platform that does all those things as a Democrat, and education isn’t the top issue, you may be able to go farther than you could have otherwise” on education reforms, said Charles Barone, chief policy officer at Democrats for Education Reform.

He pointed to candidates like Polis and Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who was easily re-elected Tuesday after pushing hard to put accountability provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Looking ahead, the results of this election could continue to impact whether and how campaigns deal with education in 2020.

Because white suburban voters were so key to Democrats’ big wins, they’ll be an important bloc in the 2020 presidential elections, said Joanne Weiss, former chief of staff to then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Those are the very voters who believe education is working and more reforms aren’t needed, setting up a counterweight to the black and Latino voters who traditionally vote Democrat and care a great deal about the issues, she said.

“That means that education reform … issues are going to be problematic because they’re going to play to black and Latino voters, but they’re not going to play well to the suburban white voters,” she said.

Trying to attract two groups of voters with competing priorities might mean the Democratic candidates for president just ignore it, she said: “����’s probably going to make it so that education is just going to fly under the radar and not matter at all.”

In the politics and policy of education reform, reading the tea leaves of what comes next requires looking beyond the headlines to candidates whose races may not have garnered national headlines but whose leadership will determine funding and policy changes over the coming months and years. And it just so happens that pragmatists on both sides won across the country, renewing our optimism that the pursuit of equity and excellence in education across the country has a fighting chance.

The fact is, legislation to advance student-centered, teacher-friendly education policies will continue to need bipartisan support to pass (even if ). Knowing that, our organizations, and supported candidates from both major parties in elections around the country, giving us a firsthand view of some of the leaders who will continue to fight for great schools (Allies for Educational Equity-supported candidates had an impressive 69 percent win rate Tuesday). Here are a few standouts from these races, all sharing a consistent commitment to improving public education, often requiring them to work with the other side of the aisle:

●��In Texas, Teach For America alumnus James Talarico has turned the House District 52 from red to blue. During the campaign, one voter, a public school teacher, : “Compromise is a nasty word right now if you’re a politician, so I am glad he wants to change that.”

●��In Colorado, Democrat — and education reformer — Jared Polis won first a tough primary, then the general election, to become the nation’s first out LGBTQ governor. On that same ballot, Jessie Danielson won her state Senate bid after demonstrating thoughtful leadership while in the Colorado House, including voting for charter school funding. The Washington Post as one to watch and one of the most competitive in the state this election cycle.

●��In Rhode Island, both Gov. Gina Raimondo and Lt. Gov Dan McKee are pragmatic Democrats who won re-election at time when such a position seemed unfavorable politically. McKee withstood a well-funded and popular primary opponent who attacked him repeatedly for his leadership in creating quality school choice options by helping to launch and develop the Rhode Island Mayoral Academies, a charter school network.

●��In North Carolina, state Rep. Jon Hardister is a rising star — though he’s just 36, he’s already the House majority whip. Hardister is a Republican pragmatist and education reform advocate from a suburban area who has been known to collaborate across the aisle.

●��Nearby, in Tennessee, Republican state Sen. Brian Kelsey, a consistent leader in education policy fights in the state Capitol, held his seat despite the blue wave in suburban districts nationwide.

As we recover from campaign season and look to next year’s legislative session, advocates and elected leaders alike should know that — and that public opinion supports policies that enable such reforms. According to recent polling:

●�� of the public believes students should continue to be tested in reading and math;

●��Support for increased teacher pay , showing that voters support a balance of education policy that includes more dollars and more reform;

●�� agree that ensuring parents have a variety of school options for their kids is a very important priority.

For decades to come, politicians will win and lose elections based on unrelated national trends. Initiatives will continue to pass or fail, because the devil is always in the details. As evidenced by the indicators such as and the ��, those impact by policymaking are clearly supportive of reforms. From Tuesday’s election, we see that policymakers are prepared to lead, even when challenged on the campaign trail or by party politics. We encourage our peers in advocacy to carry forward, supporting leaders doing right by children and opening dialogue with those who aren’t yet familiar with the research backing the real-life impact of education reform.

Lastly, remember this piece in two years, after the next election, which will be hailed as the most important we have ever had. Just like the last one.

Lea M. Crusey is the founder and CEO of Allies for Educational Equity, a national nonpartisan political action committee. Jonathan Nikkila is vice president of public affairs for 50CAN.

The success of those young people on Election Day, however, is open to debate. Although Parkland activists played a role in encouraging a surge in youth voter turnout on Tuesday, their central issue — gun control — didn’t fare well, including in Florida.

About 31 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 voted in the midterm elections on Tuesday — an impressive 10-percentage-point jump from the previous midterm elections, in 2014,�� by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University. And while a majority of Americans in this age group still chose to stay home on Election Day, the results are significant compared with turnout in previous years. Youth voter turnout was higher on Tuesday than it has been in any midterm election over the past two decades.

CIRCLE Director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg said she was encouraged by the surge in voter turnout — observed across all age groups — but not terribly surprised. Most young people lean left, and Kawashima-Ginsberg said they’ve overwhelmingly resisted President Donald Trump since he was elected in 2016.

Then the mass school shooting in Parkland unfolded in February. The movement to encourage youth civic engagement followed and, though it centered on gun violence, Kawashima-Ginsberg said it opened the doors for a lot of other stakeholders.

“����’s not so much about the issue” of gun control, she said, “but it’s about politicizing young people.”

The surge in youth turnout proved particularly advantageous for Democratic House of Representatives candidates, according to exit polls. Among youth voters, two-thirds voted for Democratic candidates in the House — a margin the CIRCLE analysis said “almost certainly helped the Democratic Party take control.”

Beyond their influence on the House, young people cast decisive ballots in several state races, the CIRCLE analysis found. That includes Wisconsin’s gubernatorial election, where Democrat Tony Evers ousted Republican incumbent Scott Walker by a margin of just 1.2 percentage points. Young voters favored Evers by a 23-percentage-point margin, according to CIRCLE. In Montana, young people made up an above-average share of the electorate — a fact that likely changed the election outcome, CIRCLE found. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester won his re-election in a close contest, with young voters supporting him over Republican challenger Matt Rosendale by a 40-percentage-point margin.

While Democrats’ success in taking back the House will likely be a boon for those who support stricter firearms laws, gun rights advocates also found success Tuesday. Students activists had hoped to force out lawmakers backed by the National Rifle Association, but that didn’t materialize.

One day after Americans voted in midterm elections where gun control became a divisive issue, a in California and killed 12 people.

The Trace, a nonprofit news website that focuses on guns in America,�� that tracks campaign spending by the National Rifle Association. As of Thursday, the bot found that an overwhelming majority of NRA-backed congressional candidates won: 106 were victorious, while 38 were not.

Still, groups that back gun control also had victories. For example, 88 of 129 candidates backed by the gun control group Giffords��.

In their home state, Parkland activists��, with pro-gun candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate coming out victorious. In true Florida fashion, however, each race .

“Once again, NRA members and Second Amendment supporters made a difference by showing up to the polls and voting,” Chris Cox, the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund chairman, said in a media release. “Florida voters rejected the extreme gun control agenda” backed by former New York City mayor and potential presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg “and sent a clear message in support of our Second Amendment right to self-defense.”

Still, Kawashima-Ginsberg said youth voters shouldn’t be discouraged by the outcome, because “it’s impossible to imagine that you can suddenly change the entire electorate by motivating the youngest of the voters.” She said she hopes young people play the “long game” and continue to be civically engaged.

For some outspoken Parkland activists, that appears to be the plan.

“Things didn’t necessarily go our way, but we know that this is the start, that it’s going to be a long road,” Parkland shooting survivor and activist David Hogg told the New York Times. “The Florida elections were very close, which is encouraging. For us, the loss in Florida is a call to action.”

Missing? Education. Sure, Minnesota’s new governor was a teacher and the new governor in Wisconsin was previously state education chief there, but despite the hype and the strikes, this midterm election turned on dynamics other than schools.

Still, that doesn’t mean the outcome won’t affect education policy. Here are five things to watch:

Reality Show Presidency Rolls On

I’m no fan of President Donald Trump, but objectively speaking, he did not have the awful night Tuesday you might have expected given his conduct over the past two years. He heads into 2020 in a relatively strong position, with the big variables being the Mueller investigation and the economy. His base is not going anywhere. In statewide races where Trump acolytes went head to head with progressive Democrats, they fared pretty well. Meanwhile, a divided Washington will play to Trump’s chaos-theory approach to politics and expose Democratic political liabilities. Whatever your politics, this is probably bad news for education because it means more theatrics than policy unless schools can get traction by edging into the slipstream of larger issues like infrastructure. Nationally, look for Department of Education officials to be dragged in front of plenty of hearings, as well as some debate on higher education.

Money

There is always a lot of talk about how voters really want to pay more for schools. Then, results at the ballot box call that sentiment into question. There were some wins on funding Tuesday, but measures in states like Oklahoma, Colorado, and Utah went down. Revealed preferences, anyone? ����’s a good reminder that K-12 schools must focus on productivity measures, because fiscal pressures��— notably and their downward pressure on teachers’ cash compensation — mean the past few decades of spending increases do not likely indicate a future trend. Still, keep an eye on how some of the new governors from both parties navigate campaign promises around teacher pay.

Inclusion

Turns out again that Americans are more tolerant than you might have heard on Twitter, where specific episodes dwarf larger trends and divisiveness is a growth industry. Measures with education implications — for instance, fair treatment for transgender Americans or the continuation of Oregon’s sanctuary policy — were supported by voters in referendums. Criminal justice reform did pretty well, too, in states like Louisiana and Florida and against overall favorable backdrops for Republicans. In other words, more opportunities to build coalitions around issues than some of today’s political rhetoric reveals. Education reformers should take note.

Guns

About 1 in 10 voters told exit pollsters that guns were their top issue. (That’s better than education fared!) But guns trailed issues like health care and the economy as voter concerns. There is no reason the Democratic strategy of making guns an issue in the suburbs and spinning up parents won’t continue — and won’t continue to overlap with schools.

Rural-Suburban Divide

The suburban-rural schism in American politics is only getting deeper. A key story of this election is how Democrats made inroads in the suburbs and the rural bulwark held for Republicans. That’s why Democrats made strong gains in formerly purple states like Virginia, where they picked up several House seats. It was also a dynamic in several key Senate races — there were not enough rural voters in Nevada to save the Republican there, but Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill could not overcome those headwinds in Missouri.

That’s a cleavage that education reformers ought to think about. Ed reform has always struggled in the suburbs and among white college-educated voters — and reformers don’t have much to say to rural voters, either. So as Republicans seek to regain suburban traction heading into 2020, don’t look to them for a lot of help. ����’s an open question whether an evolving Democratic Party will compete for rural votes or just write them off and focus elsewhere.

Related to rural, you never want to read too much into a single race, but in Kansas’s 3rd Congressional District, voters elected a rookie politician with a fascinating biography that includes a law degree from Cornell and mixed martial arts experience. She’s also a Native American, and for all the self-satisfaction in the education world about “wokeness,” Native students somehow remain consistently overlooked even as 9 in 10 are in traditional, largely rural school districts. Fresh voices on Capitol Hill on behalf of these students are a welcome sign.

In fact, “overlooked” is really the theme of the 2018 midterms when it comes to schools. There was plenty of noise and plenty of education groups engaged in various races, but education was for the most part not a high-leverage issue. Structurally, the landscape going forward doesn’t augur well for attention to schools, either. As both political parties redefine themselves, schools are largely a sideshow in those conversations. Within the education world, that means the divisive macro politics rather than specific education questions are driving the conversation. And for education reformers, it means the window for political traction will continue to get smaller absent compelling new ideas and arguments.

Andrew J. Rotherham is a co-founder and partner at Bellwether Education, a national nonprofit organization working to support educational innovation and improve educational outcomes for low-income students. He is a senior editor at The 74 and serves on the 74’s board of directors. In addition, among other professional work, he is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report, writes the blog Eduwonk.com, teaches at The University of Virginia and is a senior advisor at Whiteboard Advisors.

Alaska Rep. Don Young won a 24th term in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday, fending off a spirited challenge from education activist and political newcomer Alyse Galvin. Young, the so-called “Dean of the House” (an honorific given to the chamber’s longest-serving member) led by a margin of 54 percent to 45 percent with 98 percent of districts reporting.

Young, 85, a Republican who has held Alaska’s at-large House seat since 1973, has survived close races before. His outspoken nature and bevy of personal quirks — he once held to Republican leader John Boehner’s throat — have generally been a good fit for the state, even as some have clamored for a younger representative to send to Washington.

Rep. Don Young has defeated Democratic challenger Alyse Galvin to keep his seat in Alaska’s at-large Congressional district.

Live results:

— POLITICO (@politico)

They thought they’d found one in Galvin, a political independent who won the Democrats’ August primary. She is principally known as a founder of the activist lobby , which has pushed for higher education funding in the state.

Schools, along with most other public services in Alaska, as oil revenues have dipped. Galvin helped organize a letter-writing campaign in Juneau to ward off cuts to school funding, then convened on school quality.

In her concession speech, Galvin said she was proud of the campaign, even as she came up short.

“We had motivated people to vote who had never voted,” Galvin said. “It’s time to bring government back to the people.”

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Colorado Democrats kept their winning streak alive on Election Night, electing Rep. Jared Polis as the state’s third consecutive Democratic governor. But the bigger story might have been obscured by Polis’s historic win to become the nation’s first openly gay governor: In the lower-profile legislative races, a blue wave crashed over the state Senate, giving Democrats unified control over government in Denver for the first time since 2014.

House Democrats picked up two seats to expand their majority to 11. But their colleagues in the Senate pulled off the real coup, defeating two Republican incumbents and flipping the chamber from an 18-17 GOP majority to a 19-16 Democratic advantage. In doing so, they were the key in helping the party gain a coveted “trifecta.”

ICYMI: Democrats Gain a Two Seat Majority in the Colorado State Senate!

Read the release here: .

— Colorado Senate Dems (@COSenDem)

In Jefferson County, west of Denver, veteran education activist Tammy Story beat Sen. Tim Neville, one of in Colorado. Story led the 2015 effort to recall three right-leaning members of the county school board in over teacher pay and the district’s U.S. history curriculum.

In Adams County, Rep. Faith Winter prevailed over Sen. Beth Martinez Humenik by a 52-41 margin. Winter, who has already gained attention from EMILY’s List and is seen as a rising star in the party, has made paid family leave one of her signature issues in the House.

The new Senate majority — along with the leadership of Governor-elect Polis, who is expected to govern as an unabashed progressive — will allow Colorado Democrats to act on Winter’s proposal, along with others caught in the GOP bottleneck over the past four years. Another initiative likely to be considered is a bill to launch a voter referendum on full-day, state-funded kindergarten, by Republican leadership. Possible changes to the state education funding formula, as well as legislation to reduce student suspensions, have also been stymied under divided government.

Democratic Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, thought to be a contender to become Senate majority leader, that the party’s victories Tuesday were a message from voters to govern responsibly.

“What this says to me is that they trust our ability to lead, but they don’t want us to go crazy,” Zenzinger said. “I think this is our opportunity to prove to Colorado that there’s nothing to be afraid of with Democrats in power.”

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The Arizona superintendent’s race between a charter school proponent and public school educator remained too close to call late Wednesday afternoon.

Republican Frank Riggs has a less than 1 percent lead over Kathy Hoffman, a speech pathologist and former preschool teacher. show Riggs fewer than 7,000 votes ahead.

Arizona is still counting nearly 650,000 votes statewide as of Wednesday, the — which “could swing major races” like the superintendent’s race.

Hoffman tweeted Wednesday to her supporters that, “There are still votes left to count, and I want every voice for public education to be heard.”

What a night! There are still votes left to count, and I want every voice for public education to be heard. We’ll keep you updated, but first I want to say thank you to everyone who knocked on doors & made calls for . We’re in it until the last ballot is counted!

— Kathy Hoffman for Superintendent (@kathyhoffman_az)

The state superintendent of public instruction oversees all Arizona public and charter schools, and is a member of the Arizona Board of Education. It is largely a bully pulpit for influencing education policy.

Throughout the campaign, Riggs touted his deep ties to the charter school sector: As a former California congressman, he penned the in 1998 to allocate federal startup grants to newly formed charter schools. He’s also the founding board president of Arizona Connections Academy — a statewide, online K-12 charter school.

But that doesn’t mean he plans on shying away from critical oversight of charter schools. “You need to police your sector, and you need to call out your bad actors,” he . “Because if you don’t, you’re going to get regulation.”

Charter schools are part of the rich educational diversity and robust parental school choice we have in Arizona. We should pride ourselves on that. If I’m entrusted with the office of Supt. of Public Instruction, I will champion both good district schools,…

— Frank Riggs (@RiggsforAZ)

Apart from charter , his includes creating parent advisory boards and expanding civic education.

Meanwhile, Hoffman — like other educators this election cycle — capitalized on the momentum of this year’s #RedForEd movement, which spurred a weeklong Arizona teacher strike in late April. (Riggs ; Hoffman participated.)

Her platform includes backing programs, denouncing the arming of teachers, and advocating for paid for educators.

At least half of the 12 teacher candidates The 74 interviewed before Election Day have lost their races. Read more on our liveblog.

Whoever wins will replace Republican Diane Douglas, whom Riggs beat in the primaries.

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Texas voters returned four incumbents to the state’s notoriously fractious Board of Education Tuesday night and elected three newcomers, according to the Texas Tribune’s . The balance of power remains the same, with five Democrats and 10 Republicans, each representing nearly 2 million Texans.

The board has a range of powers, including setting curricular standards and vetting texts and approving some charter school applications. Because Texas, like California, is home to so many students, the board’s mandates often affect what publishers and other education vendors produce, and by extension the materials that show up in classrooms throughout the country.

In Austin, TX, 15 people influence what’s taught to the next generation of children. Once a decade, the State Board of rewrites the standards for nearly 5 million schoolchildren. Learn more in ‘The Revisionaries’ at

— CuriosityStream (@CuriosityStream)

The board made headlines earlier this fall for contentious debates about the depiction of slavery’s role in the Civil War, whether to continue to refer to the defenders of the Alamo as “heroic,” and whether to mention Hillary Clinton and Helen Keller by name.

Seven of 15 seats were up for election. Democrats elected or re-elected are Ruben Cortez Jr., Marisa Perez, Lawrence Allen Jr., and Aicha Davis. Republicans are Matt Robinson, Patricia “Pat” Harvey, and Pam Little.

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Florida Democrats weren’t able to dent the GOP’s hold in the state legislature, flipping just six seats in the state House and none, so far, in the Senate on Tuesday.

One Senate seat, District 18, appears with the Democratic challenger up by 82 votes over the Republican incumbent, Dana Young. But even if Democrats prevail there, they will be four seats short of a majority. That means that Republicans will retain unified control in Tallahassee, which they have held since Jeb Bush became governor two decades ago.

The night began promisingly for the blue squad: Gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum was leading his Republican opponent in most polls, and the possibility of flipping the state Senate seemed within reach.

But Gillum’s opponent, arch-conservative Rep. Ron DeSantis, won a narrow and somewhat surprising victory. Even the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Bill Nelson and incumbent Gov. Rick Scott proved disappointing, though it looks headed for a recount.

With DeSantis ensconced in the governor’s mansion through 2022 and functional GOP majorities in the statehouse, Democrats’ dreams of changing schools in the state will again be deferred. The era of Republican dominance in the land of swaying palms has coincided with the ascendance of perhaps the most aggressive reform regimes in the country. An expansive private school voucher system, along with merit pay for teachers and a few other conservative priorities, have been the result.

While some had hoped that Gillum’s fresh face, along with the rush of activism following the Parkland shootings, would help Democrats carry the day, they will instead begin their third decade as a minority party in America’s third-largest state.

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Democrats in Connecticut enjoyed a banner evening (and early morning), winning control over the state Senate and expanding their majority in the state House of Representatives. Given Democrat Ned Lamont’s victory in the governor’s race over Republican nominee Bob Stefanowski, the party will move forward with unified control over state government.

Entering Tuesday night, Democrats held a 70-61 majority in the House, which had dwindled persistently since a high-water mark of 114-37 after the 2008 election. The Senate was tied. Today, depending on the results of three planned recounts, Democrats could command a 32-seat edge in the House while boasting at least 23 out of 36 Senate seats. That’s more than broad enough to allow Lamont to enact his agenda for schools, business, and public finance.

To bolster their numbers, the Democrats won seats that hadn’t been competitive in a century: Republican Rep. Mike Bocchino lost to Democrat Stephen Meskers in his Greenwich-based district, which had been held by the GOP since 1912. The city’s 36th Senate District also flipped blue for the first time since 1930 as Alexandra Bergstein .

House Democrats will have 92 members – a huge surprise; Dems did not think it would be this big

— Christopher Keating (@chrispkeating)

WIth some breathing room, Lamont may be able to escape the deadlock that has plagued incumbent Gov. Dan Malloy, who has endured several rounds of in recent years as Connecticut’s intractable budget mess has forced cuts to municipal aid. The governor-elect has promised to navigate toward calmer fiscal waters from public employees on their retirement benefits, and winning greater support in Hartford could strengthen his hand.

At the same time, though, Democrats will now have to square some big campaign spending promises with a very constrained reality. Lamont pledged to fully fund the state’s Education Cost Sharing fund and hire more teachers, social workers, and school counselors. It remains to be seen whether even his larger majorities can make that math work for him.

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More than 55 percent of Colorado voters said no to a ballot initiative that would have increased funding for schools throughout the state, . Right now, Colorado spends some $2,800 less per student than the national average.

Under the Colorado Taxpayers Bill of Rights, all tax increases must be approved by at least 55 percent of voters. Over the last decade, a provision in the state constitution has applied $7.5 billion that would have gone to schools to other budget needs.

Amendment 73, which would have increased individual income tax rate and corporate income tax rate, has FAILED. Results:

— CPR News (@NewsCPR)

This year’s referendum was the third attempt to raise money for schools since 1994. It would have raised $1.6 billion by increasing taxes on incomes of $150,000 a year and on corporations, as well as residential and commercial property.

Backers of the initiative, known as Amendment 73, raised $1 million to support their campaign.

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More than 20 hours after the polls officially closed in Georgia and with all precincts reporting, progressive Democrat Stacey Abrams trailed her Republican opponent Brian Kemp Wednesday afternoon by 65,000 votes, out of 4 million cast, but insisted she would not concede the race for governor until all absentee and provisional ballots around the state were counted.

Abrams hopes the ballots will lower Kemp’s total below 50 percent, triggering a runoff required by state law in campaigns when neither candidate captures more than half the vote. Kemp currently leads 50-49. Turnout for the race approached 95 percent of the state’s presidential vote in 2016, .

The race slowly tightened overnight but it’s not clear that there are enough uncounted votes to affect Kemp’s lead meaningfully.

Abrams, a former Georgia legislator who is trying to become the nation’s first female African-American state leader, received strong backing from the national party (as well as support from celebrities like Oprah and Will Ferrell) in an effort to register and turn out poor and minority voters — reproducing the model that helped Democrat Doug Jones beat Judge Roy Moore in Alabama last year. Kemp was vigorously backed by President Donald Trump.

During the campaign Abrams emphasized early education and increased school funding. Kemp advocated for more autonomy at the district level. Their platforms fell to the left and right, respectively, of the agenda set by outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal, who tried to consolidate authority over the schools aggressively but to mixed effect.

Kemp, the Georgia secretary of state whose job it is to oversee elections, has faced accusations of conflict of interest and voter suppression. Last month, a federal judge ruled Georgia election officials had to stop rejecting absentee ballots with voters’ signatures that didn’t appear to match signatures on record. Tuesday’s voting was also plagued by long lines and machines with power.

If necessary, a runoff election will be held on December 4.

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Much of the public’s attention today has focused on the shifting power in Washington, D.C. and what Democrats retaking the House but likely losing seats in the Senate will mean for governing generally and education policy specifically.

But for K-12 watchers, the races that really matter for important issues like funding, school choice, school safety and ESSA implementation are for governor and state superintendent. In all, 36 states had governor’s races yesterday, and seven cast ballots for state schools chief.

In these races, it was a good night for Republicans overall, particularly incumbent ones. Here’s a brief recap of the remaining contests that we haven’t already covered in the past 24 hours.

Superintendents

Georgia: Incumbent Republican Richard Woods beat Democratic challenger Ota Thornton, a retired military officer and the first black male president of the PTA. Woods won with 53 percent of the vote, .

Thornton said his campaign’s three pillars were providing wraparound services, school safety (though he opposes a state law that permits teachers to carry firearms if authorized by the school board), and updating the state’s funding formula, .

Woods touted his efforts to reduce testing, including working with lawmakers to establish an innovative assessment program. He backs the state law allowing educators to carry firearms, , but would support changes in the law requiring public input or training standards for teachers.

Oklahoma: Republican incumbent Joy Hofmeister beat John Cox, superintendent of Peggs Public Schools in the eastern part of the state, by nearly 25 points, . It was a re-match from four years ago, when Hofmeister won by 11 points.

Hofmeister for educators following walkouts this spring, alongside reducing the number of tests and raising standards. Cox had an “assault on public education.”

South Carolina: Incumbent Republican Molly Spearman was re-elected easily, with 98 percent of the vote, . Her Democratic opponent, Israel Romero, was forced to drop out of the race a month ahead of Election Day after a South Carolina newspaper discovered he had been convicted of impersonating a lawyer, a felony that barred him from holding office.

Spearman was dealt one loss, however: South Carolina voters rejected, 60 percent to 40 percent, changing the state Constitution to make the job one appointed by the governor rather than chosen by the voters. Spearman backed the change.

Wyoming: Incumbent Republican Jillian Balow ran unopposed.

Governors

Alabama: Republican incumbent Kay Ivey was re-elected, beating Democrat Walt Maddox, the mayor of Tuscaloosa, by a margin of 20 points, according to election results .

Maddox had called for the state to to fund universal pre-K, college scholarships, equalized school funding between rich and poor districts, and wraparound medical and mental health services.

Ivey, the former lieutenant governor who was elevated to the office in April 2017 after the former governor resigned amid a sex scandal, on her campaign website noted her past as a teacher and touted “” under her watch.

Alaska: The race has yet to be called, but Republican Mike Dunleavy was as of early Wednesday afternoon, with 98 percent of precincts reporting.

The race was scrambled last month when incumbent Bill Walker, an independent, dropped out and threw his support to Democrat Mark Begich. Walker’s name still appeared on the ballot.

The state in recent years has faced several budget crises as the price of oil, its primary source of tax revenue, has fallen, and lawmakers have . The candidates have tussled over cutting spending, including for education, or raising taxes, to continue providing Alaskans with their full amounts due from the Permanent Dividend Fund, an investment fund for residents financed by oil revenues.

Arkansas: Incumbent Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, bested Jared Henderson, the former executive director of the state’s Teach for America program and the Democratic nominee, .

Henderson had called for to make Arkansas teachers “the highest paid teachers in the country adjusted for cost of living.” Hutchinson touted an effort to put computer coding classes in high schools across the state, an idea he said came from his granddaughter, Ella Beth.

Hawaii: Democratic incumbent David Ige , winning nearly 63 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Andria Tupola, a member of the state House.

Ige in a debate , including an early college program, as part an overall effort to bring down the high cost of living in the island state. Tupola on her campaign website had called for .

Massachusetts: Republican Charlie Baker, by some measures the most popular governor in the country, easily won re-election, despite his state’s strong Democratic tilt. He took in his race against Jay Gonzalez.

Baker’s highest-profile move was his backing of a failed 2016 ballot referendum to lift the cap on charter schools in the state, which are among the nation’s top performers in the sector. Gonzalez had that every child from birth to age 5 would have “access to high-quality, affordable child care and preschool” by the end of his first term.

Nebraska: Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts was re-elected by a margin of 18 points over Democratic nominee Bob Krist, a state senator, .

Their debates and increasing K-12 education funding, often competing priorities.

New Hampshire: Incumbent Republican Gov. Chris Sununu , beating former state senator Molly Kelly, though his political reach will be limited by Democrats, .

Sununu was one for two in his big K-12 education pushes: lawmakers paid for full-day kindergarten in the state by expanding Keno gambling, but didn’t approve his proposal for an education savings account program. Kelly, who was , said for full-day kindergarten and any voucher plan.

Oregon: Democrat Kate Brown beat her Republican challenger, State Rep. Knute Buehler, by just shy of five points, .

The two had sparred over education funding, particularly exploding costs for teacher pensions, and lagging test scores and high school graduation rates, which are among the worst in the country. They agreed, however, on the need to recruit more teachers of color and lengthen the school year from 170 to 180 days, .

Texas: Greg Abbott, the Republican incumbent, was re-elected last night, beating Democrat Lupe Valdez, the sheriff of Dallas County, .

The two had clashed on the amount of education funding provided by the state, the availability of in-state college tuition rates for undocumented students, and Abbott’s school safety plan, which called for arming teachers. Although Texas was home to one of the two major school shootings this year, in May at Santa Fe High School outside Houston, lawmakers were not in session this year, so no sweeping legislative changes were adopted in response to school gun violence.

Vermont: Republican Phil Scott was re-elected to a second two-year term over Democrat Christine Hallquist. Hallquist was the country’s first transgender major-party nominee for governor.

Scott vetoed state budgets three times during his first term to prevent an increase in property taxes for education, but finally relented earlier this year. He has said the state can put more money into early childhood and higher education without increasing spending, citing the need to “take some meat out of the middle to do that,” the .

Hallquist called for other proposals beyond education to attract more families to Vermont to bolster the dwindling K-12 student enrollment, and to reduce the state’s prison population by half with the savings going toward higher education.

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After a close call on Election Night, Democrat Ned Lamont has been elected governor of Connecticut, the Hartford Courant . Republican nominee Bob Stefanowski conceded the race on Wednesday morning, surrendering the GOP’s best opportunity to pick up a governor’s seat this cycle.

Democrat Ned Lamont elected next CT Governor; Stefanowski concedes

— Bill Flood (@Bill_Flood)

Political observers had predicted a close race dictated by competing headwinds: the Northeast’s backlash against President Trump is felt strongly in Connecticut, limiting Stefanowski’s ceiling of support, but the unpopularity of incumbent Gov. Dan Malloy has also hurt Democrats chances.

The governor has seen his approval ratings drop as he has attempted to grapple with Connecticut’s tough financial situation. Skyrocketing retirement costs for public employees — most prominently public school teachers — have the state’s accountants worried, even as businesses have have been leaving the state for Boston and New York. Malloy’s nostrum of tax hikes mixed with reductions in municipal aid have proven a bitter remedy.

In the midst of fiscal worries, Connecticut schools are something of a bright spot, providing some of the highest student achievement of any state. But achievement gaps between rich and poor students are also some of the widest in the country, and the state’s school funding distribution has attracted a host of legal challenges as critics charge that it systematically underfunds needy districts.

Stefanowski’s signature campaign item was to slash taxes, including a gradual elimination of both estate and income taxes. Such a move would greatly reduce the available pot of money for both pension payments and school funding, Lamont argued. He proposed instead to fully fund the state’s Education Cost Sharing fund, allowing schools to hire more social workers, teachers, and counselors.

Those kinds of ambitious moves will be challenging given their cost, according to Ronald Schurin, a political science professor at the University of Connecticut.

“Governor-elect Lamont’s challenge won’t be philosophy but arithmetic,” he told The 74 in an email. “ Like his predecessor, he will try to meet the needs of constituencies across the state — including school districts and public colleges — without major tax increases. It will be a daunting task.”

The new governor will have reinforcements coming — after years of seeing its majorities dwindle in both chambers of the state legislature, his party . An 18-18 tie in the state Senate flipped to solid blue control, with Democrats winning at least 23 seats. They could grab as many as 12 seats in the House, giving them a comfortable 92-59 majority.

Still, Lamont’s narrow margin of victory made this the third consecutive Connecticut governor’s race decided by just a few percentage points. In a state this blue, that means that many Democrats harked to Stefanowski’s tax-cutting message — likely indicating voter fatigue with the pace of retrenchment in what has always been one of the richest areas in the country. The governor-elect struck a conciliatory note in his victory speech, promising to work with those who had opposed his candidacy.

“I’m reaching out to the folks that supported [Stefanowski],” he said. “I’ve got to bring people together to … make the decisions we need to get this state growing again.

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Nine months after New Jersey returned control of schools in the state’s largest district to the Newark school board, residents decided against mayoral control over the school system in favor of an elected board.

During the 22 years state officials had control over the district, the nine-member board had only advisory powers. New Jersey law mandates that when a district is returned to local control, voters must choose whether to elect a board directly or to ask the mayor to oversee the schools — a governance model used in a number of urban districts.

Read what you about tomorrow’s school board election question: elected vs. mayor-appointed board.

— City of Newark (@CityofNewarkNJ)

Three-fourths of Newark voters chose an elected board, .

Voters in Paterson and Camden also chose to elect their boards directly going forward.

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The close race for Idaho schools chief finally ended Wednesday after Republican incumbent Sherri Ybarra secured 51 percent of the vote, . Ybarra returns for a second term after also narrowly winning the election in 2014.

Ybarra faced off against Democrat and long-time Idaho teacher Cindy Wilson.

It’s official, Sherri Ybarra retains the State Superintendent of Public Instruction position with 51% of the vote. Ybarra wins by about 17,000 votes over Cindy Wilson. That is a greater margin than she won with in 2014

— Joe Parris (@KTVBJoe)

The superintendent in Idaho runs a school system of nearly 300,000 K-12 students with a budget of nearly $2 billion. While Idaho schools perform slightly above average on national tests, its 80 percent graduation rate is a few points below other states and teacher pay ranks among the bottom of national comparisons. Idaho is one of six states that does not have a preschool program.

“Our graduation rate is going up and our teachers in Idaho need to be commended for that great work,” Ybarra said, according to . “Any gain we make in public education is to be celebrated.”

Both candidates have experience as teachers and both attended Idaho colleges, but Ybarra has education administration experience while Wilson does not.

Ybarra has made teacher pay and school safety her , but she didn’t run a traditional campaign like her competitor. Wilson emphasized fundraising and growing her social media following.. Still Ybarra prevailed.

Wilson had campaigned on boosting student achievement, recruiting teachers, and creating public-private partnerships to support early childhood education..

“For me to run against a Republican incumbent in Idaho was kind of crazy,” Wilson told. “The fact that we have done as well as we have is really just so positive and I’m very pleased with what we’ve been able to do.”

EDlection2018: This is one of several dozen races that could go on to influence state or federal education policy. Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox; sign up for The 74 Newsletter.

EDlection2018: This is one of dozens of races����that could go on to influence state or federal education policy. Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox; sign up for��The 74 Newsletter��and the��.

After the costliest race ever for a state schools chief, education reformer Marshall Tuck has a narrow lead in his second bid for California’s superintendent of public instruction, according to unofficial results from the state.

“I think the most important thing in our state is our public schools,” Tuck told NBC4 Tuesday night as early results were released in his favor. “You can’t have a good future in the 21st century without a good public school. We’re not getting the job done for our kids, particularly low-income kids.”

By midday Wednesday, 100 percent of precincts were reporting and results remained unofficial pending the counting of provisional and mail-in ballots. State Assemblyman Tony Thurmond had not yet conceded.��Tuck had����of the vote, barely a percentage point over Thurmond’s��. Only about 86,000 votes separated them, out of about 6 million ballots cast.

With millions of ballots left to be counted, we’re digging in & waiting for every vote. The kids of CA are in it for the long haul & we are too. I’m so proud of the coalition we built & I thank the thousands of educators, students & public ed advocates who supported our campaign.

— Tony Thurmond (@TonyThurmond)

“The election continues to be incredibly close, but so far we have held onto a small lead,” Tuck’s campaign manager, Andrew Blumenfeld, said in a Wednesday morning email. “At this point, 100% of precincts are reporting, and we have 50.7% of the counted vote. We are still waiting to hear from precincts in San Diego, and then provisional and later absentee ballots from all over the state. These outstanding ballots will continue to come in rather slowly.”

The race centered on California’s debate over school choice, pitting union-backed Thurmond against Tuck, who was supported by the California Charter Schools Association and wealthy reformers. Both are Democrats, but the race also highlighted a��. Both were raised in the Bay Area, but Tuck has led independent charter and traditional public school organizations in Los Angeles, and Thurmond is a state legislator in Richmond, just north of Berkeley on the San Francisco Bay.

The heated campaign featured disputes over negative advertising and became the����in the nation for a state superintendent — for the second time. Tuck narrowly lost in 2014 to Tom Torlakson, who served two four-year terms and is now termed out. That race cost $30 million. This time, the candidates raked in more than����as of Monday — more than any House race this cycle and all but a handful of the most expensive Senate races. Tuck took in the lion’s share, outspending Thurmond roughly 2-1.

Thurmond, 50, is a former social worker, school board member and council member in the Bay Area. He is ending his second term in the state Assembly, where he serves on the Education and Human Services committees. He was backed by the powerful 325,000-member California Teachers Association.

Tuck, 45, was president of Green Dot Public Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization started in 1999 in Los Angeles, as well as the founding CEO of the��, a network created a decade ago by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after his failed attempt to take over the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The Partnership��focuses on turning around the lowest-scoring schools with the highest dropout rates in the toughest neighborhoods of Los Angeles — Boyle Heights, Watts, and South Los Angeles. One of its 18 schools, 20th Street Elementary, has posted more than����in����since it��, putting it in the����of all Los Angeles Unified elementary schools in terms of growth. Just two years ago, 20th Street Elementary����that the parents moved to take it over from LA Unified using a state law called a “parent trigger.”

The state superintendent job lacks partisan affiliation, carries little statutory power and has not historically set its occupants on a path to higher office. But a Tuck win would represent a symbolic victory for the charter movement.

“I’m about every kid in the state. We’ve got to have great public schools in every neighborhood. Charters schools play a role, but ultimately the focus has to be in our traditional public schools,” said Tuck, who had the support of the education reform movement’s philanthropists including Eli Broad and Bill Bloomfield.

Of the state’s 6.2 million K-12 students, about 10 percent are enrolled in some 1,275 charter schools. Though its charter sector is the nation’s largest in overall student enrollment, and has been one of the fastest-growing, expansion has stalled amid loud political opposition.

The two candidates differed in their support for charters. In����recorded shortly before the primary, both agreed that for-profit operators have no place in California. But Thurmond went further, suggesting that a “pause” on new openings might be necessary until new revenues are found to offset the dollars that districts lose when their students move to charter schools. Tuck argued instead that school districts should not be allowed to reject new charter petitions because of the financial hardship that might result.

The state’s public schools rank 44th in the nation based on national����for reading and math. State test scores have risen a bare����in the last three years despite a significant increase in state funding. Fewer than����students can do math on grade level, and only half are proficient in English language arts.

“We’ve got a lot to do to improve our schools,” he said.

����’s and the Tucks have voted! Have you?

— Marshall Tuck (@MarshallTuck)

The state’s Local Control Funding Formula over the last three years has funneled more than����in extra funding to school districts that serve large numbers of disadvantaged students, but the achievement gap persists between white students and blacks and Latinos, and 11th-graders this year lost ground.��, who were supposed to benefit from the extra funding, continued to����of all subgroups of students. Over 20 percent of the students in California’s public schools — or 1.3 million children — are English learners.

��on adding more subgroups of students who are underachieving so students such as African Americans can also receive additional funding under the Local Control Funding Formula, which currently provides additional funding for English learners, low-income, homeless and foster students. They also agree on free preschool for all children across the state and additional mental health support for students.

For updated election results, follow the Election Liveblog��.

EDlection2018: This is one of dozens of races����that could go on to influence state or federal education policy. Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox; sign up for��The 74 Newsletter��and the��.

Democrats will retain control of the Nevada Senate and Assembly, setting up a Democratic trifecta with newly elected Gov. Steve Sisolak that could look to dismantle many of the state’s landmark Republican-passed education reforms.

Republicans had to run the table on three toss-up seats in the state Senate, plus pick off another likely Democratic seat to retake the chamber. Democrats are set to win at least two of those tossups, in districts 8 and 9, .

In the third race, district 20, Republican Keith Pickard is ahead by 57 votes, as of 12:30 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, according to the secretary of state’s website. Keeping that race in GOP hands blocks Democrats from getting a supermajority in the Senate. A supermajority of two-thirds of members would let them override gubernatorial vetoes and pass tax increases without Republican support.

In the state Assembly, a few races remain outstanding, but Democrats appear poised to hold a 29-13 majority. That would definitely give them a supermajority in that chamber.

It was a good night for Democrats statewide: they also won a U.S. Senate seat and three of the state’s four House seats.

After our long journey on this campaign together, I’m humbled, honored, and deeply grateful to serve as Nevada’s next Senator!

I’ll wake up every day ready to fight for Nevada’s families. I got into politics to make a difference, and I will always carry your stories with me.

— Jacky Rosen (@RosenforNevada)

One Assembly race attracted outsize national attention: brothel owner and reality show star Dennis Hof, a Republican, died three weeks ago but was elected anyway. County officials will appoint a Republican replacement, .

(Check out our liveblog for the latest on races at all levels of government.)

At issue under the universal Democratic control of state government are several of Nevada’s landmark 2015 education reforms, most prominent of which is its currently stalled education savings account program.

The program would have made every child in the state eligible to use his or her share of state education funding for private school tuition, tutoring or other education expenses. It was challenged in the courts, and the state Supreme Court said lawmakers had to find another way to fund it besides the usual K-12 funding stream. That’s been on ice since Democrats re-took control of the legislature in 2016, and all indications are that they won’t move on it now.

The big Democratic wins Tuesday are something of a second defeat for universal education savings accounts, after voters in Arizona overwhelmingly rejected a similar program.

Also up for lawmakers’ consideration will be the future of an achievement school district, under which the state selects charter schools to either take over operations or set up right next to underperforming district schools, and a revision to the state’s school funding formula.

EDlection2018: This is one of several dozen races that could go on to influence state or federal education policy. Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox; sign up for The 74 Newsletter.

The ghost of the returns: Florida’s hard-fought U.S. Senate race, which had focused extensively on education, appears to be headed to a recount as of mid-day Wednesday.

Republican Rick Scott, currently the state’s governor, is leading sitting Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson by about 30,000 votes, which is which is 0.38 percent of votes cast, according to state records. Florida law triggers an automatic recount if the margin of victory is under 0.5 percent.

Scott’s campaign said the race is over and the call for a recount is “a sad way for Bill Nelson to end his career,” . Republicans have already cleared a hurdle to maintain their majority in the Senate, but flipping a seat red in a pivotal electoral state like Florida carries special significance.

(Keep up with our liveblog here for more updates on what’s happening in Senate and other races across the country.)

The race had focused extensively on education, including spending, national rankings of the state’s schools, and school safety and gun control after the Parkland shooting earlier this year.

In September, Scott touting what he said were Florida’s “first-in-the-nation” test scores in 4th and 8th grade, AP classes, and “college education” plus highest-ever spending on schools. Nelson , charging that Scott had cut over $1 billion from public schools, leading to a ranking of 40th among the states, and a shortage of teachers.

In reality, , neither was totally correct, with Scott fudging Florida’s No. 1 spot in terms of growth on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests for overall proficiency, and AP class enrollment instead of a better benchmark — the number of students who passed AP exams with a high enough grade to earn college credit.

On spending, there was a substantial cut under Scott’s watch, most of which happened during the Great Recession, but it’s largely been restored. And while per-pupil funding is at its highest ever, it’s still far below the national average.

The two also about gun control and school safety, with Nelson saying Scott was too closely aligned to the NRA, and Scott saying Nelson hadn’t done enough on gun control during his nearly 18 yearsin the Senate.

EDlection2018: This is one of several dozen races that could go on to influence state or federal education policy. Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox; sign up for The 74 Newsletter.

In a widely anticipated outcome, three-term Democratic Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham beat out Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce to win New Mexico’s governorship. Capturing 57 percent of the vote, Lujan Grisham commanded a 14-point lead over Pearce, who received 43 percent.

Though she succeeds a Latina, Lujan Grisham will be the first female Democratic Hispanic governor in the country.

Congrats to on winning her election and becoming the first Democratic Hispanic woman governor in the United States!

— EMILY’s List (@emilyslist)

The race is significant to K-12 education policy-watchers because outgoing governor Susana Martinez implemented a number of major reforms during her two terms in office. Lujan Grisham has vowed to change course as quickly as she can.

Over the summer, a state district court judge ruled that New Mexico students are trapped “in an inadequate system” – a decision which likely translates to a need for more funding. The Martinez administration appealed the ruling; Lujan Grisham said she will drop the appeal immediately.

Both Lujan Grisham and Pearce had promised swift action on the state’s controversial teacher evaluation policy, often called the toughest in the nation, and on the use of the PARCC, an annual assessment created to measure student mastery of the Common Core State Standards.

Both items are political footballs. Martinez’s Department of Education initially ordered 50 percent of teacher evaluations to be based on student growth on standardized assessments, but has changed the policy several times based on feedback from teachers. The resulting compromise system has been heralded as a factor in rising teacher effectiveness in several districts.

Lujan Grisham has also promised to boost starting teacher salaries from $36,000 a year to $40,000 and to tap a state land trust to pay for expanded access to early childhood education.

EDlection2018: This is one of several dozen races����that could go on to influence state or federal education policy. Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox; sign up for��The 74 Newsletter.

In a race that was undecided until the wee hours, six-term U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison will become Minnesota’s attorney general, beating GOPer Doug Wardlow, a relatively unknown attorney who has made a career of suing school districts and other entities over policies that protect LGBT people.

With all votes counted, according to the , Ellison won with 49 percent of the vote.

Congressman ⁦⁩ “We are going to lift people up. We are going to protect the rights of everyone!”

— John Croman (@JohnCroman)

Ellison, who gave up a seat in one of the most solidly blue congressional districts in the country to run, was thought to be a shoo-in until August, when an ex-girlfriend alleged he had engaged in “narcissistic abuse.” Ellison denied the allegations and Twin Cities media were unable to substantiate them, but the scandal persisted.

The first Muslim elected to Congress, Ellison has confronted last-minute allegations of wrongdoing in every election since 2012. In addition to domestic abuse, this year mailers and other opposition campaign materials accused the Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate of supporting “cop killers.”

Two weeks ago, a poll gave Wardlow a 7-point lead over Ellison. The same survey found fewer than half of likely voters knew who Wardlow was, suggesting the margin signaled more about eroding support for Ellison than surging interest in Wardlow.

As staff counsel at the right-wing Alliance Defending Freedom, Wardlow spearheaded numerous lawsuits seeking to block laws and policies protecting gays, lesbians and transgender individuals. Last year he lobbied Minnesota’s largest school system, the suburban Anoka-Hennepin School District, to ignore non-binding state guidance on accommodations for LGBT students and to deny transgender and other gender-nonconforming students access to bathrooms, locker rooms, and other single-sex facilities.

Wardlow’s testimony fanned a painful flame. Eight years ago the district was named a “suicide contagion” by state health officials after at least seven students killed themselves in the wake of bullying based on their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Because of a district policy that prohibited staff from saying anything affirming about homosexuality or gender nonconformity, teachers and others believed they could not intervene in the harassment.

Ellison’s former wife, Kim Ellison, serves on the Minneapolis School Board. His son, Jeremiah, serves on the Minneapolis City Council.

EDlection2018: This is one of several dozen races����that could go on to influence state or federal education policy. Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox; sign up for��The 74 Newsletter.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a conservative star and 2016 presidential contender, was denied his bid for a third term in Wisconsin, . Though his opponent, Democratic State Superintendent Tony Evers, declared victory early Wednesday morning, Walker has still refused to concede.

A batch of late-breaking votes from Milwaukee pushed Evers’s lead over the 1 percent threshold that automatically triggers a recount in Wisconsin, though the Walker campaign that it would still push for one.

Walker’s seat is perhaps the sweetest prize of all for Democrats, who had lost close races to the governor in 2010, 2012, and 2014. He gained infamy among liberals by moving harshly against public sector unions and imposing significant cuts in education funding in 2011.

Evers wasn’t considered a shoe-in to defeat one of the Midwest’s singular political talents. He emerged from a crowded Democratic primary largely thanks to high name recognition as one of his party’s few statewide officeholders, and his relaxed campaigning style was thought to present a major drawback against Wisconsin’s highly effective GOP machine.

Befitting a race matching a state superintendent against the bete noir of teachers unions, the campaign spotlighted major differences between the two men on schools. Evers said he would reverse much of his rival’s signature Act 10 reforms (which stripped public employees of the right to collectively bargain), and inveighed against Walker’s persistent moves to expand statewide and municipal voucher programs. Meanwhile, the governor accused Evers of being slow to act against abusive teachers.

Both candidates touted their intentions to increase public school funding. After passing austerity budgets in the early years of his administration, Walker pushed for a sizable increase in per-pupil spending last year — after which he went to pains to rebrand himself as an “education governor.” Evers set his sights even higher, issuing that would boost inflation-adjusted school dollars to levels not seen since the mid-1990s.

Scott Walker goes down: Democrat Tony Evers will become Wisconsin’s next governor.

Live results:

— POLITICO (@politico)

The likelihood of achieving that kind of funding level is slim, however, since Republicans maintained control over both houses of the state legislature. Local political observers have forecasted a stalemate under such a scenario, and the tight nature of Evers’s win doesn’t grant him much of a mandate on education or any other issue.

Still, the governor-elect was ebullient in victory Wednesday morning.

“����’s time for a change,” he said in . “The voters of Wisconsin spoke, and they agree: A change is coming to Wisconsin.”

EDlection2018: This is one of several dozen races that could go on to influence state or federal education policy. Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox; sign up for The 74 Newsletter.