# County Superintendent of Schools — Fresno County Compare records and positions simply between Michele Cantwell-Copher or Eimear O'Brien for County Superintendent of Schools — Fresno County at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person leads the county office of education. The job is nonpartisan. - Jurisdiction: Fresno County - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/fresno-superintendent-of-schools - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 3, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 90 out of 100 (Very strong), across 5 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Michele Cantwell-Copher** - **Eimear O'Brien** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Incumbent Michele Cantwell-Copher led the June 2 primary with 42.8% and Eimear O'Brien took 30.0%; neither cleared a majority, so the two meet again on November 3. This is a nonpartisan countywide office. The county superintendent runs the Fresno County Office of Education. That office does not run your local school district — it oversees district budgets and can intervene when one is in financial trouble, runs county-wide programs including special education and juvenile court schools, and provides services individual districts are too small to run alone. It is one of the most consequential education jobs most voters have never heard of. This is a contest between a sitting superintendent and a challenger from within the same professional world, so it turns on management of the county office rather than on party or ideology. Ask what you want from the office's two real powers: fiscal oversight of districts, and the county-run programs serving students no single district can serve alone. ## Michele Cantwell-Copher Michele Cantwell-Copher, who grew up in unincorporated Riverdale, attended Fresno City College and California State University, Fresno. She began as a teacher in the Clovis Unified and Central Unified school districts. She then spent about 14 years in county-office administration, in roles including vice principal, principal and assistant superintendent at Central Unified. She has served as Fresno County Superintendent of Schools since 2022, when she won her first term with roughly two-thirds of the vote (Fresnoland; Mid Valley Times). She says the county office should take a "full systems" approach, looking at ways "to mitigate barriers towards students' success in school" (Mid Valley Times). Since she took office, a Fresnoland review of state assessment data found county students posting some of the highest academic growth rates in California, and more county schools have been named to the state's Distinguished Schools program. On immigration enforcement, she has steered the office toward mental health services and partnerships with groups like Centro La Familia rather than intervening in district policy, saying, "I'm not going to be intrusive in their governance" (Fresnoland). She promises to keep expanding transitional kindergarten and early care, grow dual enrollment and career technical education, and increase the county office's legislative presence in Sacramento. She also promises to keep protecting "student data" and parental rights as schools adopt artificial intelligence tools (Fresnoland). **Strengths:** Seventeen years in county education roles and a first term already completed, the most direct record for a job like this. **Trade-offs:** A challenger from inside the same system says the office needs a different approach on literacy and district partnership. **Keep in mind:** She led the June primary with under 43 percent, a low number for an incumbent seeking a second term. ## Eimear O'Brien Eimear O'Brien was born in Ireland and moved to Fresno County more than 30 years ago, at age 30. They taught for a decade in Ireland and a decade more at Maple Creek Elementary in Clovis Unified. They then rose through the district as a vice principal and principal of Clovis West High School, and later as assistant superintendent. They served six years as superintendent of Clovis Unified, one of the region's largest districts, stepping down in 2023 (Fresnoland; Mid Valley Times). They have since served as interim superintendent of Central Unified. "Having been a district superintendent, now actually not once, but twice in the county, I'm very aware of what accountability feels like, because you can lose your job very easily," they said (Mid Valley Times). O'Brien says they want to be a partner to district superintendents, sharing best practices, and describes themselves as willing to reverse course: "I'm not afraid to make a decision. I'm equally not afraid to turn it around if I discover I made the wrong decision" (Fresnoland). O'Brien's central promise is that every child in the county should be reading by third grade, achieved through phonics based training, more transitional kindergarten seats and stronger family engagement (Fresnoland). They promise particular attention to literacy access in the county's rural areas, and say they would strengthen the office's legislative presence in Sacramento while continuing county-district partnerships. **Strengths:** Six years leading Clovis Unified, one of the region's largest districts, plus a specific literacy plan for county schools. **Trade-offs:** No record inside the county office itself, which is the job on the ballot. **Keep in mind:** O'Brien forced a runoff against a sitting superintendent, a rare result for this office. ## Sources 1. [Fresno County elections office — certified June 2, 2026 primary results](https://www.fresnocountyca.gov/Departments/County-ClerkRegistrar-of-Voters/Elections/Election-Results/2026/RESULTS-FOR-JUNE-2-2026-CONSOLIDATED-STATEWIDE-PRIMARY-ELECTION) 2. [GV Wire — Central Valley election coverage, Assembly District 27](https://gvwire.com/2026/06/03/esmeralda-soria-brian-pacheco-adam-gray-advance-to-november-runoffs/) 3. [Fresnoland — Fresno County candidate guides](https://fresnoland.org/2026/05/13/fresno-county-superintendent-election/) 4. [Mid Valley Times — Fresno County Superintendent of Schools candidate profiles](https://midvalleytimes.com/article/news/2026/04/28/meet-the-fresno-county-superintendent-of-schools-candidates/) 5. [NetFile official public agency registry and live county campaign portals — candidate/committee searches run for Fresno (CFRE), Merced (MCO), San Bernardino (SBD), Ventura (VCO), Monterey Elections (MCE), and Placer (PLA), with the registry also checked for Siskiyou and Tuolumne](https://netfile.com/api/public/sites/api/agencies) ## The rest of the ballot County Superintendent of Schools — Fresno County is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "County Superintendent of Schools — Fresno County — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/fresno-superintendent-of-schools (sources last retrieved September 3, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.