Richard Woods (Georgia)
Richard Woods (Republican Party) is the Georgia State Superintendent of Schools. He assumed office on January 12, 2015. His current term ends on January 11, 2027.
Woods (Republican Party) ran for re-election for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Biography
Woods previously worked as a social studies teacher in Irwin County for 14 years.[1] He then held a number of administrative positions, including assistant principal, principal, curriculum director, testing coordinator, pre-k director, and alternative school director.[2]
Political career
Georgia State Superintendent of Schools (2015 - Present)
Woods was first elected to the office on November 4, 2014. He was sworn into office on January 12, 2015, replacing John Barge (R), who decided to forgo running for re-election as superintendent in order to run for governor of Georgia..[1]
Issues
During a January 9, 2014, forum with reporters, Woods discussed his priorities for his first term in office. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Woods expressed his concerns about an excessive emphasis on standardized testing and four-year college preparation in high school. He also noted that the superintendent's office should remain elected rather than appointed to ensure that "the people of Georgia have a voice."[1]
About the office
The Georgia Superintendent of Schools is a state executive position in the Georgia state government. The superintendent is the administrative head of the Georgia of Department of Education, which oversees the state's K-12 public education system. The superintendent is charged with instituting the policies of the state Board of Education and managing operations for the school system. The superintendent is popularly elected to four-year terms during federal midterm election years.[3]
Elections
2022
See also: Georgia Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2022
General election
General election for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Incumbent Richard Woods defeated Alisha Searcy in the general election for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Richard Woods (R) | 54.2 | 2,115,728 |
 | Alisha Searcy (D)  | 45.8 | 1,788,671 | |
| Total votes: 3,904,399 | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Alisha Searcy defeated Jaha Howard, James Morrow, and Currey Hitchens in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Alisha Searcy | 57.0 | 382,792 |
 | Jaha Howard | 15.0 | 100,675 | |
 | James Morrow | 14.6 | 97,821 | |
 | Currey Hitchens | 13.5 | 90,514 | |
| Total votes: 671,802 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Incumbent Richard Woods defeated John Barge in the Republican primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Richard Woods | 72.6 | 802,260 |
 | John Barge | 27.4 | 302,681 | |
| Total votes: 1,104,941 | |||
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2018
General election
General election for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Incumbent Richard Woods defeated Otha Thornton in the general election for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Richard Woods (R) | 53.0 | 2,048,003 |
 | Otha Thornton (D) | 47.0 | 1,814,461 | |
| Total votes: 3,862,464 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Otha Thornton defeated Sid Chapman in the Democratic primary runoff for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on July 24, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Otha Thornton | 59.1 | 86,704 |
| Sid Chapman | 40.9 | 60,006 | |
| Total votes: 146,710 | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Otha Thornton and Sid Chapman advanced to a runoff. They defeated Sam Mosteller in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Otha Thornton | 43.9 | 208,407 |
| ✔ | | Sid Chapman | 36.5 | 173,270 |
| Sam Mosteller | 19.7 | 93,402 | |
| Total votes: 475,079 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Incumbent Richard Woods defeated John Barge in the Republican primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Richard Woods | 60.1 | 324,848 |
| John Barge | 39.9 | 215,431 | |
| Total votes: 540,279 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2014
Woods ran for election to the position of Georgia state superintendent of schools in 2014.[4] Woods sought the Republican nomination in May 20, and narrowly defeated Mike Buck in a primary runoff on July 22, 2014. The results of the runoff fell well inside the 1 percent margin required for Buck, who finished about 715 votes behind Woods out of over 398,000 cast, to request a recount. The recount concluded on Thursday, July 31, confirming Woods as the official winner.[5][6][7][8] Woods defeated Democratic nominee Valarie Wilson in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Results
Primary runoff
| Georgia State Superintendents of Schools, Republican Primary Runoff, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Richard Woods |
50.1% | 199,441 | ||
| Mike Buck | 49.9% | 198,741 | ||
| Total Votes | 398,182 | |||
| Election results via Georgia Secretary of State. | ||||
Primary election
| Georgia Superintendent of Schools, Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Mike Buck |
19.5% | 91,435 | ||
| Richard Woods |
16.8% | 78,542 | ||
| Mary Kay Bacallao | 15.3% | 71,810 | ||
| Ashley Bell | 15% | 70,065 | ||
| Nancy Jester | 10.9% | 51,211 | ||
| Fitz Johnson | 7.7% | 35,862 | ||
| Allen Bowles Fort | 6.3% | 29,504 | ||
| Sharyl Dawes | 5.4% | 25,468 | ||
| Kira Willis | 3.1% | 14,584 | ||
| Total Votes | 468,481 | |||
| Election results via Georgia Secretary of State Election Results. | ||||
Results
| Superintendent of Georgia, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Richard Woods |
55.1% | 1,391,005 | |
| Democratic | Valarie Wilson | 44.9% | 1,132,886 | |
| Total Votes | 2,523,891 | |||
| Election results via Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
Race background
In the May 20 primary election, neither of the crowded Democratic and Republican fields for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools managed to produce a candidate with at least 50 percent of the vote in their respective primaries.[9] As a result, the top two vote-getters from each race competed in a runoff on July 22 to decide who would advance to the general election: state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan and former Decatur School Board Chairwoman Valarie Wilson for the Democrats; chief academic officer for the state Department of Education Mike Buck and veteran Irwin County educator Richard Woods for the Republicans.[10][11][12][13]
Wilson was declared the Democratic nominee for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools over state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan late on May 20, while the GOP runoff between Buck and Woods was too close to call.[14][15][16] [17] With 100 percent precincts fully reported the day after, excluding provisional ballots, Woods led by less than 730 votes out of about 397,800 cast—well below the one percent margin Georgia election law deems necessary to conduct a recount.[18][16] On Thursday, July 31, the ensuing recount concluded that Woods had won the race by 713 votes.[19]
As the sole open state executive seat in the 2014 elections, the superintendent race was expected to draw a substantial lineup of hopefuls. Outgoing incumbent John Barge, a Republican first elected Georgia's state schools chief in 2010, decided to forgo a possible re-election bid this year, instead setting his sights on the governorship. After being defeated by Nathan Deal in the GOP primary, Barge was unable to join in the superintendent ballot. Barge's choice was unique among the 10-man, all-Republican roster of Georgia executive incumbents, all of whom were considered likely to be re-elected, and exposed the superintendent's office as a target for Democrats looking to gain a foothold in the state's executive branch.[20][21]
On November 4, Woods was elected to replace Barge as superintendent. He edged out Wilson by a margin of more than 10 percentage points.[22]
Campaign media
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Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Richard Woods did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Georgia State Superintendent of Schools |
Officeholder Georgia State Superintendent of Schools |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 AJC.com, "Richard Woods gets ready to steer Georgia Department of Education," January 12, 2015
- ↑ Georgia Department of Education, "Richard Woods, Georgia's School Superintendent," accessed July 30, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Department of Education, "Homepage," accessed January 13, 2021
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcampaign14 - ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Buck loses recount in Georgia GOP schools race," July 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State Election Results, "General Primary Runoff and General Nonpartisan Election Runoff July 22, 2014," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, "Recount looks likely in Republican superintendent race," July 23, 2014
- ↑ The Rome News-Tribune, "UPDATE: Woods edges Buck for Georgia Superintendent Republican runoff, results within margin for recount," July 23, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Election Results, Secretary of State, "Primary Statewide Election Results," accessed July 21, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedwoods - ↑ abc walbnews10, "Richard Woods awaits final results, running for School Superintendent," July 23, 2014
- ↑ The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, "Recount looks likely in Republican superintendent race," July 23, 2014
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Rome News-Tribune, "UPDATE: Woods edges Buck for Georgia Superintendent Republican runoff, results within margin for recount," July 23, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Election Results, Secretary of State, "Primary Statewide Election Results," accessed July 21, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State Election Results, "General Primary Runoff and General Nonpartisan Election Runoff July 22, 2014," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Buck loses recount in Georgia GOP schools race," July 31, 2014
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2014 Governors Race Ratings for July 18, 2014," July 18, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed May 19, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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