Sonja Shaw has served on the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education in San Bernardino County, California, since her election in 2022, including as board president. She is a candidate for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction in the November 3, 2026 general election.
Case
Republican Steve Hilton's Just Try It ad shows two young women, one guiding the other's hand to mark a ballot for him. Sonja Shaw and Michael Gates, who have campaigned with him, condemned it, while Hilton calls it satire.
Role at the time: Chino Valley school board member and candidate for California superintendent of public instruction
Statement summary
Replying on X to Hilton's post of the ad, Shaw told Hilton, the California Republican Party and its chairwoman Corrin Rankin that they should be ashamed for "reposting and cheering this creepy, weird, disturbing garbage." She wrote that the ad is "exactly why good people are walking away from the Republican Party" and that, as a mother, "this crosses a line."
“Shame on you, @SteveHiltonx , @CAGOP and @CorrinRankin , for reposting and cheering this creepy, weird, disturbing garbage on. This is a clear example of exactly why good people are walking away from the Republican Party. As a mother and someone who has fought to protect the innocence of children, this crosses a line. We have lost our way. Embarrassing.”
The reference point is whether the Just Try It ad was an appropriate way to campaign. Shaw rejects the ad in her own words, calling it "creepy, weird, disturbing garbage" and saying it "crosses a line," and she faults Hilton and the state party for promoting it. Her objection is to the ad itself and goes beyond how it was received, so Condemned fits.
Statement dates: October 2, 2026
Statement dates: October 2, 2026
