The former superintendent of one of North Carolina’s largest school districts will serve as the state’s next superintendent of public instruction, clinching what became the highest-profile state superintendent’s race of the 2024 election cycle.
Democrat Mo Green, the former superintendent of the Guilford County schools and the former executive director of a philanthropic foundation, defeated Michele Morrow, a nurse and home schooling advocate. Green claimed 51 percent of the vote to Morrow’s 49 percent, .
Morrow, who has never held public office, narrowly prevailed in the GOP primary against the current state chief, Catherine Truitt. The normally low-profile race for superintendent of education was thrust into the national spotlight following , including President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama.
With a background in public education, Green was a more conventional candidate for state chief. His campaign website argued that North Carolina’s per-pupil spending of $11,000 is insufficient, noting it ranks 48th nationally, according to the nonprofit Education Law Center. He also advocated increasing teacher pay.
Morrow, who home-schools her own children, has urged parents not to send their kids to public schools. She claimed on her campaign website that North Carolina schools teach “one-sided lessons portraying America as a racist and oppressive nation” and that the North Carolina Association of Educators—a state affiliate of the National Education Association—“forced school closures during Covid.”
The North Carolina race was one of four state superintendent contests on ballots this year.
Voters in Montana, North Dakota, and Washington state were also electing state chiefs. The incumbents won or were leading their opponents in North Dakota and Washington state on Wednesday. In Montana, the Republican candidate was leading after incumbent Elsie Arntzen, also a Republican, launched an unsuccessful primary campaign for one of Montana’s two U.S. House of Representatives seats.
In North Dakota, the nation’s longest-serving state superintendent, Kirsten Baesler, defeated Jason Heitkamp, a truck driver and former Republican state senator, with nearly 57 percent of the vote, according to the secretary of state’s office there.
Though the North Dakota election is nonpartisan, both Baesler and Heitkamp lean conservative. However, in March, Baesler—who was first elected state superintendent in 2012—lost the North Dakota Republican Party’s endorsement to Jim Bartlett, a home-schooling advocate who wants schools to teach the Christian moral code based on the Ten Commandments.
Bartlett ultimately failed to advance to the general election.
“We’ve made so many great strides in K-12 education during the last 12 years, but the reason I ran again is that there’s always more that we need to do for our students,” Baesler said following her victory. “My philosophy as state superintendent has been to strive for continuous improvement each and every day, for all students, and that will continue.”
In Washington state, incumbent Chris Reykdal was leading opponent David Olson with nearly 54 percent of the vote as of late Wednesday morning, according to the secretary of state’s office. Reykdal is seeking a third term as state superintendent.
In Montana, Republican Susie Hedalen was leading Democratic opponent Shannon O’Brien with 60 percent of the vote, . Hedalen is the superintendent of Montana’s Townsend school district.
