Jennifer McCormick
Jennifer McCormick - 2024 Indiana Gubernatorial Candidate
44th Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction
In office
January 9, 2017 – January 11, 2021
GovernorEric Holcomb
Preceded byGlenda Ritz
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic (since 2021)
Other political
affiliations		Republican (until 2021)
SpouseTrent
Children1
EducationPurdue University (BA)
Ball State University (MA)
Indiana State University (PhD)

Jennifer McCormick is an American politician and educator who is the former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. Formerly a Republican, she upset the Democratic incumbent Glenda Ritz in the 2016 election and served one term. Switching to the Democratic Party in 2021, she is running for governor of Indiana in 2024.[1]

Biography

McCormick began her career as a special education teacher. She later worked as a middle school language arts teacher from 1996 to 2004. Then she became principal of Yorktown Elementary School in 2004. In 2007, she became the assistant superintendent of Yorktown Community schools and served in that position until she was selected as superintendent in 2010. She serves on the boards for Ivy Tech East Central Region, the Indiana Association of School Business Officials, and Delaware County Youth Salutes. In 2014, she was invited to the National Connected Superintendents Summit at the White House in Washington D.C.[2] In June 2021, McCormick announced that she had officially switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party.[3]

State Superintendent

Election

McCormick was chosen by the Indiana Republican Party as the nominee for the Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 11, 2016. At her convention speech, McCormick said Indiana must continue to reject national Common Core learning standards. She said "days of reckless testing must end" and that she knows what it takes to recruit the best teachers.[4] McCormick and Ritz had one debate on October 17, 2016, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[5] McCormick defeated Ritz for the position of Superintendent on November 8, 2016.[6]

Indiana 2016 Superintendent of Public Instruction Election[7][8]

Candidate Party Popular vote  %
Jennifer McCormick Republican 1,423,042 53.0%
Glenda Ritz Democratic 1,240,474 47.0%

Tenure

Jennifer McCormick at Bloomfield High School during the final Workplace Simulation Project Day

McCormick ran as a Republican candidate for Indiana superintendent of public instruction. She defeated Dawn Wooten and won the Republican nomination at the state party convention on June 11. McCormick defeated incumbent Glenda Ritz in the Indiana superintendent of schools election. The theme of her campaign was to remove politics from education and that the superintendent should again work in tandem with the Department of Education. It also stated including support for improving the current state assessment program and providing teachers with quality tools to enhance instruction. A primary responsibility for the superintendent will be to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act, a federal education law that replaces the No Child Left Behind Act signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002.[9]

2024 gubernatorial race

In May 2023, McCormick announced that she would enter the 2024 race for Indiana Governor as a Democrat.[10]

Personal life

McCormick is married to Trent, a public school science teacher and wrestling coach.[11] They have one son, Cael, who attended The United States Military Academy.[12]

Awards

  • Outstanding Contributor to Education Award from the Muncie Delaware County Chamber of Commerce
  • 2013: Person of the Year, Yorktown Chamber of Commerce

References

  1. ↑ Davies, Tom (May 4, 2023). "Ex-Indiana schools chief McCormick enters governor's race". Associated Press. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Jennifer McCormick - Ballotpedia".
  3. ↑ "Former Indiana GOP schools chief changes party affiliation to Democratic".
  4. ↑ "Indiana GOP pick nominees for Attorney General and State School Superintendent". 11 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Ritz, McCormick To Debate For State Superintendent Race". 6 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Republican challenger McCormick wins over Ritz".
  7. ↑ "Indiana Superintendent of Schools election, 2016 - Ballotpedia".
  8. ↑ "Election Results". in.gov. November 8, 2016.
  9. ↑ Balonon-Rosen, Peter (8 November 2016). "McCormick Ousts Ritz To Win State Superintendent Race".
  10. ↑ "Ex-state schools superintendent Jennifer McCormick joins Indiana governor's race as Democrat". Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  11. ↑ "The Voter's Self Defense System".
  12. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2017-08-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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