Georgia State School Superintendent Richard Woods will face off against challenger Fred “Bubba” Longgrear in the June 16 Republican primary runoff in an election characterized by controversy over students’ low reading scores.
Woods received 49.9% of the votes and Longgrear received 29.1% in the May 19 Republican primary. Since no candidate among five crossed the 50% threshold to clinch the party nomination, the two candidates with the highest percentage of votes are advancing to a runoff.
Early voting runs from June 8 to June 12 statewide but some metro Atlanta counties are starting June 6.
Whoever wins the runoff will face the Democratic nominee, Hampton High School Assistant Principal Lydia Powell, in the November general election.
This year’s race is taking place amid a concerted effort to improve literacy rates in Georgia. Only around 35% of third graders have literacy proficiency, according to 2024-25 state data.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed HB 1193 into law, which funds one literacy coach in every school that offers kindergarten through third grade. However, state lawmakers working on the bill said the superintendent and his office did not adequately engage with lawmakers.
Longgrear, on the other hand, has received endorsements from a number of Georgia state lawmakers working in education, including House Speaker Jon Burns, House Education Committee Chair Chris Erwin and Senate Education Committee Chair Billy Hickman.
He’s the superintendent of the Candler County school district, which has around 2,100 students, and serves as the president of the Georgia School Superintendents Association. Longgrear has billed himself as someone who can overturn the status quo and work across state and local agencies.
“I’m a team builder by nature. I empower, I engage and support and I would build a big team, a good team around me that has the same focus on improving student achievement, engaging with stakeholders, serving our local districts, being fully accessible to teachers, leaders and legislators to work together to build a better education system in Georgia,” he said at an Atlanta Press Club debate on Monday.
Superintendent Woods responded to criticisms of his record on literacy, saying he had called for literacy coaches years before the bill passed the legislature. The Georgia Department of Education’s 2023 legislative priorities included funding for paraprofessionals in first and second-grade classrooms to support literacy.
He also pointed to other efforts at the state level. For example, he worked with the governor to overturn Common Core testing standards.
“With literacy, I think we have to look at what has been accomplished,” he said during the debate on Monday. “I did get rid of Common Core. I hired a literacy coordinator, Amy Denty, the best in the state, hired a literacy coach who was the best in the state, Nick Philmon. You know, we trained teachers throughout the state of Georgia in preparation of our new standards that we rolled out this year.”
Woods also accused Longgrear of taking “dark money” to fund his campaign, referring to donations from a Georgia political action committee called Conservatives for Strong Schools that has spent $831,929 in digital ads and mailers to unseat Woods, including $300,000 in digital ads to support Longgrear’s campaign. Conservatives for Strong Schools received $900,000 from America Works Fund Inc.
“He obviously mentioned ‘Dark Money’ several times. I wanted to ask him to clarify but in an effort to respect the script of the debate layout, I never had a chance,” Longgrear said in a statement to WABE. “All of the money that I have raised is reported with the Ethics Department and has come from grassroots efforts that I have raised myself. These donors are people that I know personally and believe in the need for change in this position of leadership.”
Woods has also received pushback for his decision to halt state funding for an Advanced Placement course in African American Studies violates the state’s law against teaching “divisive concepts” in the classroom, a decision which he reversed about a week later after the state attorney general’s office determined the restrictions did not apply to AP courses.
“If it pertains to the law, then I will enforce it, because that’s what I’m charged to do,” Woods said.
Longgrear, in an interview with WABE, said the situation “could have been handled better,” but agreed with the law overall.
“I want to celebrate every heritage. But if it is causing us to be divided or we’re casting blame on a certain group of people because something that happened 80 years ago, 100 years ago — let’s reward students now. Let’s hold students accountable now for the actions they’re doing,” he said. “I’m totally against creating a victim mentality for any group. I think it’s paralyzing to future success.”
Woods has touted an increase in the state high school graduation rate from 79% in 2015 to 87.2% in 2025.
During Woods’ administration, state lawmakers also passed a private school voucher program known as the Georgia Promise Scholarship, which provides K-12 students in low-achieving public schools up to $6,500 to cover private school tuition and expenses.
Longgrear also supports expanding the current school vouchers program to students regardless of income or other requirements. He wants stronger discipline policies, updated assessments to improve literacy and greater transparency from the state department of education.
