- sonomacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Sonoma County Registrar of Voters -- "Local Candidates Who Have Filed," November 3, 2026 General Election: the county's own provisional roster, showing exactly two county-section contests (Board of Education Trustee Areas 2 and 4), each candidate's ballot designation, qualification date, and incumbent flag. States a final list won't post until "the end of August or the beginning of September"; last updated 8/17/26 and unchanged on a live re-check 2026-08-31, after both the regular (Aug. 7) and extended (Aug. 12) nomination deadlines had passed
- scoe.org (opens in a new tab)Sonoma County Office of Education -- "County Board of Education" page: names all five sitting trustees by area (Cuclis Area 1, Kostas Area 2, Watts Area 3, Herrington Area 4, Hernandez Area 5), confirming Peter Kostas -- not a 2026 candidate -- as the outgoing Area 2 incumbent and Steve Herrington (elected 2022, term expires 2026) as the sitting Area 4 incumbent, independent of the candidate roster
- pressdemocrat.com (opens in a new tab)The Press Democrat -- "Close to Home: Choosing a new county school chief" (Dec. 5, 2021, opinion page): states that in 2022 "voters will choose a new Sonoma County superintendent of schools, as Steve Herrington is retiring after 12 years in the post" -- a factual biographical claim inside a guest-opinion piece, used only for that dated career detail, not for any evaluative claim
- sonomanews.com (opens in a new tab)Sonoma Index-Tribune (sonomanews.com) -- "County schools chief asks Sonoma Valley district to create special committee to oversee troubled budget" (Daniel Johnson, Oct. 24, 2022): straight news reporting describing Steve Herrington, then still serving as county superintendent of schools, sending an Oct. 13 letter to the Sonoma Valley Unified School District -- independent confirmation of his pre-board career, consistent with (not contradicting) the Dec. 2021 retirement piece: a county superintendent elected in June takes office the following January, so his final elected superintendent term ran through the end of 2022
- cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Herrington": the only Herrington-named political committee is a terminated "HERRINGTON FOR SONOMA COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 2010" committee, from a much earlier race for the different, county-superintendent office -- nothing active for this 2026 Board of Education race
Last updated August 31, 2026.
School District
Sonoma County Board of Education, Trustee Area 4 (Northeast County)
This person holds the Trustee Area 4 (Northeast County) seat on the 5-member Sonoma County Board of Education. It sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, which runs the county's special-education and alternative-education programs and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from the county's local school districts. The term is four years.
Steve Herrington is running unopposed for reelection in Area 4. The seat is on Sonoma County's Board of Education. No other candidate qualified for the ballot.
The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's Board of Education. The board has five members, one from each area. It sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office. That office runs the county's special-education and alternative-education programs. It also hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from local school districts.
With no opponent, this race is less a choice between platforms. It is more a look at what Herrington brings to the seat. He has held it since 2022. Before that he spent 12 years running the county's own school system. He was its elected Superintendent of Schools. He left that post the same year he moved to this separate, policy-setting board seat.
Steve Herrington
Steve Herrington is the incumbent Area 4 trustee. He was first elected in 2022. Before that he served 12 years as the county's elected Superintendent of Schools.
Your pick
A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.