Colorado Voters Fill Three State Board Seats

Voters chose candidates for three of nine seats on the partisan State Board of Education, where Democrats hold a slim majority.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Administration

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a domed state capitol silhouette above a plains horizon with distant mountains, evoking Colorado state politics. — Colorado voters on November 3 chose candidates for three of nine seats on the State Board of Education, where Democrats hold a slim majority. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Colorado voters elected candidates to three seats on the nine-member State Board of Education on November 3, 2026. Democrats held a slim majority on the partisan board before the election.

Why it matters

The board's composition shapes state education policy at a time when Colorado faces a budget shortfall of more than $1.2 billion. Proposition NN and Proposition 134 on the ballot would directly affect K-12 funding and school sports participation rules.

Three of the nine State Board of Education seats were on the ballot, and the state estimates Proposition NN would add $241.5 million to K-12 spending this year. The Amendment 87 allocation between education and other uses has not been specified.

The players

Sherri Wright

Incumbent Republican who taught middle school in Colorado and Texas and served 11 years on the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 school board.

Barb Clementi

Challenger who taught middle and high school in Colorado and served on the Pueblo District 60 school board.

The details

Incumbent Republican Sherri Wright, who taught middle school in Colorado and Texas and served 11 years on the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 school board, faced challenger Barb Clementi, a former middle and high school teacher. Proposition NN directs revenue remaining after local government reimbursements into the Children's Account, while Proposition 134 would set statewide sports participation rules based on a student's biological sex.

November 3, 2026: Colorado State Board of Education election results reported.
This year: Proposition NN estimated to add $241.5 million to K-12 spending.
Next budget year: Proposition NN estimated to add $234 million to K-12 spending.

Season Trajectory

The election outcome and Proposition NN's funding projections will shape whether the state board's Democratic majority can carry education funding priorities through Colorado's current budget shortfall. The Proposition 134 sports rules add a separate, contested policy dimension to the same board's agenda.

The board majority and the outcome of Proposition NN will determine how much new K-12 funding flows to Colorado schools and which statewide sports participation rules districts must follow. Families and school employees will feel these decisions through classroom budgets and athletic eligibility.

The takeaway

Voters who follow state education policy should watch how the board's composition and the funding outcome of Proposition NN shape budgets in the coming year.