TALLAHASSEE, FL—While Republicans banner their high voter turnout as a sign of a successful primary, Democrats claim they’re the ones who snatched victory Tuesday night by hitting Governor Ron DeSantis where it hurts: school board races.
A prominent mouthpiece for “parental rights” and a favorite of the far-right non-profit Moms For Liberty, DeSantis has laced both himself and legislation throughout school boards statewide, endorsing 23 candidates in the so-called “non-partisan” races ahead of the primary (though if a constitutional amendment passes in November, these races will officially become partisan).
Except—just 6 of his endorsed candidates won outright while another 6 will advance to runoff elections in November—a far cry from two years ago, when 25 of his 30 endorsements were successful.
“Last night was a tremendous night for Florida Democrats and a very bad night for Ron DeSantis and the Florida Republican Party,” Chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Nikki Fried, said on a Wednesday morning press call. She praised Democrat-endorsed candidates for “protecting children” and lauded their ability to “beat Ron DeSantis-backed Moms for Liberty candidates all across the state.”
“Ron DeSantis has lost his culture war,” she added.
Jennifer Jenkins, founder of the newly established PAC “Educated. We Stand” and a liberal Brevard County School Board member, echoed this sentiment. Jenkins, who defeated Moms For Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich by ten percentage points in the ruby red district, founded her organization as a counter to Moms for Liberty, claiming their "extremist" policies do more harm than good.
“Yesterday was incredible—I couldn’t have asked for better results,” she told The Floridian. She pointed out that while DeSantis’ school board picks may have fallen short, her PAC endorsed 17 candidates, 10 of whom won outright. Two of these victories were against DeSantis-backed candidates, and another three were against Moms For Liberty-endorsed candidates.
Five more will advance to run-offs.
“When there are candidates who support extremist policies and culture wars in our school system, people just don’t support it. People are sick and tired of culture wars being in our schools. It’s evident!” Jenkins continued, pointing out that both candidates they endorsed in deep-red Sarasota County won.
One of them, “woke” incumbent Tom Edwards, was named on DeSantis’ 2023 target list. The other, considered by some in the organization to be the “biggest flip in the state”, was newcomer Liz Barker, who unseated incumbent Karen Rose, the DeSantis-endorsed Chairwoman who had signed a Moms for Liberty pledge.
“Sarasota is one of the birthplaces of Moms for Liberty—that is one of the places where they should have their strongest hold,” Jenkins added, referencing that the disgraced Moms for Liberty member Bridget Ziegler still sits on the school board.
DeSantis, meanwhile, compared his candidates’ losses to baseball, saying at a Wednesday morning press conference that if “you don’t swing, you’re not going to hit a home run.”
He swiped at Florida Democrats celebrating “that they held a school board in a blue area”, saying that usually, that would be a “fait accompli.” Overall, he says, this is a building block for future “parental rights” wins, and explained that they will not all happen at once.
“And so ultimately, I think I'm optimistic, and particularly if you look at where we were four or five years ago versus where we are now, there's much more interest on these school boards in protecting the rights of parents,” he said.
Founded in 2021, Moms For Liberty has closely aligned with DeSantis, who they applauded for hammering the importance of “parental rights” in schools via book bans, DEI elimination, and the controversially monikered “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The two conservative powerhouses often endorse similar candidates.
