Denise Juneau made it through a hard-fought, four-way Democratic primary, while Republican Elaine Sollie Herman ran unopposed for the Republican nomination for Montana’s state school superintendent.

Now Juneau and Herman, joined by Libertarian Donald Eisenmenger, all of Helena, will face off in the November general election to be Montana’s next superintendent of public instruction. The winner will succeed Democrat Linda McCulloch, who is prevented by term limits from running again. The winner will head the state Office of Public Instruction and serve as the state’s leading K-12 spokesman. The job pays $99,274 a year.

Juneau already works at OPI as its Indian education director. She’s also been a teacher and is an attorney who worked as a law clerk for the Montana Supreme Court.

This is her first try for public office, although she comes from a politically active family. Her mother, Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, has been in the Legislature since 1999.

In the Democratic primary for superintendent, Denise Juneau raised and spent about $60,000 and captured nearly 53,800 votes, or 37 percent.

“I have to raise a lot of money and have a tight, efficient and quality media plan,” she said in a recent interview. “I’ve got to keep our organization of volunteers and make sure we continue to work in a positive manner, like we did in the primary.”

She said there were about 10 candidate forums and debates in the primary. Juneau hopes there will be some more in the general campaign so people “can see the differences in our vision, our initiatives and our goals.”

Juneau said she and her three Democratic opponents, Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, Claudette Morton and Rep. Holly Raser, “were pretty similar in ideology.” However, Juneau said she thinks she will differ widely from Herman in ideology.

Juneau has talked often about the significance of public education in society.

“We’re talking about the discourse on public education after it was hijacked the last legislative session,” Juneau said. “We really need to start bringing it back to the fold and tell how it contributes to all facets of life.

“It’s the last great public virtue we have going on in our state and in our nation. It’s open to all. It’s the great equalizer. It’s important for people to support.”

Juneau said she is paying close attention to the school funding lawsuit in Helena District Court this fall.

Herman, a retired teacher, business owner and financial adviser, is making her third run for state superintendent.

She’s raised about $6,600 and had about $3,700 left in the bank last month. Herman said she needs to work harder on fundraising for her campaign.

“I’m running because I feel I am the best equipped to do the job,” Herman said. “I believe the school system consists of two partners that make a marriage. One is funding, administration, building and the state and the other is children and parents and taxpayers. They need to be a marriage and work together. I have experience on both sides.”

Herman said an increasing and large share of the state budget now goes to education, yet Montana received a C-minus from Education Week. She said Montana ranks in the top 10 percent in the percentage of gross domestic income spent on education but has seen its dropout rate increase and teachers rank 45th in annual average pay.

“So the money isn’t making it into the classroom,” Herman said. “If adding more money to the system hasn’t solved the problems yet, we need to find where the problems are specifically and direct these dollars into the schools.”

Rather than blindly saying the education system needs more money, she said education officials should specify where the money will go.

“When one party has control of one office for 16 years, it’s a heyday for politics to get in the arena,” Herman said, referring to the Democrats’ lock on the state superintendent’s office. “We need to take the politics out and put the children first.”

If elected, Herman said she advocates this approach: “I want to make our children our top priority within the school system. That means running the education funds through a tighter sieve and funneling the money into the classroom.”

Eisenmenger could not be reached for comment Tuesday.