GOP candidates opposed to critical race theory and gender ideology flipped liberal-dominated school boards Tuesday, and Democrats are fretting about the national implications.
SO WHAT
If conservatives have their way, Florida is just the harbinger of a national parents’ uprising.
WHAT HAPPENED
Florida school board elections on Tuesday saw 25 out of 30 GOP candidates endorsed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the conservative 1776 Project PAC and Moms for Liberty PAC triumph over their Democratic and independent rivals, prompting a victory lap by the governor’s office — and triggering liberal anxiety there’s more to come.
The contests were dominated by debate over school choice and COVID-19 restrictions as well as “woke” race and gender theory in the classroom.
- This was the first time Florida’s governor has campaigned for school board candidates, and the first time the state Democratic Party threw its support behind its own slate in the traditionally nonpartisan elections.
- DeSantis-backed candidates flipped five counties (Miami-Dade, Sarasota, Duval, Clay, and Martin), maintained a conservative majority in three (Brevard, Hillsborough, Manatee) and were defeated in three (Alachua, Monroe and Seminole), while several more are up in the air pending runoffs.
- DeSantis credited the school board races, historically low-profile events, with driving turnout: “We didn’t have a primary for me… we didn’t have Senate [race], attorney general [race], none of that. So what was the motivation? One of the reasons is we worked hard to elect pro-student, pro-parent candidates all across the state of Florida.”
ZOOM IN
Some of the biggest reversals for Democratic incumbent boards came in Miami-Dade County and Sarasota County.
- Conservative candidates in Miami-Dade focused on a controversy last year in which teachers were accused of defying a state directive against teaching CRT, allegations that the school district denied.
- The Miami-Dade and Sarasota school boards also made national headlines by defying DeSantis’ ban on masking in school.
- In early August the Sarasota school board race was roiled by a video, posted on Libs of TikTok, of incumbent vice-chair Tom Edwards telling teachers that they would be protected from conservatives by board members who “are woke… working from the inside… You need to know, we have your backs. And we’re working in the best strategic spot because we’re on the inside.”
- Moms for Liberty responded to the video of Edwards: “Yes, please woke school board members — be more vocal about your plans to subvert parental rights.”
THE REACTION
Democratic politicians and liberal activists in Florida warned these elections may reflect a national trend, as more Republicans discover education is an effective issue for motivating voters.
- Before the election Volusia County school board Democratic candidate Justin Kennedy warned that Republicans in other states will follow DeSantis’ example: “If DeSantis is successful in this, we’re going to start to see this type of rhetoric throughout the nation. It started in Virginia in 2020 where the governor was able to get some traction on some of these school issues. My fear is that this politization of schools will spread like wildfire.”
- Democrat Max Frost, who won the primary for Florida’s 10th congressional district Tuesday, also pointed to a larger threat: “DeSantis is someone who worries me more than Trump because if you look at what he’s done here, he’s going out and stumping for these school board candidates … He’s building power.”
- Some analysts say women voters motivated by school choice helped propel DeSantis to the governorship in 2018, including a large number of women of color.