DeSantis-Backed Candidates Face Losses In Latest School Board Elections

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News Talk Florida
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Jennifer Nuelle

Several school board candidates endorsed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lost their local elections on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

DeSantis had endorsed 23 school board members running in the Florida election, but 11 lost to their opponents, Politico reported. The Florida school board elections were deemed nonpartisan, but both sides had separate endorsements from the Republican group Moms for Liberty and Democratic groups such as the state’s biggest teacher’s union.

Tuesday’s results differed from those in 2022, where the DeSantis-backed candidates won the majority of the elections and flipped five counties. DeSantis endorsed 30 candidates in 2022, and only five of them lost, according to Politico.

Despite 11 of the 23 DeSantis-endorsed candidates losing to their opponents, the historically blue Duval County was flipped, DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern said in a post on X.

“There were A LOT of uphill battles in historically blue districts today, but you don’t shift the culture by only supporting winnable races,” Redfern wrote. “Flipping the Duval County School Board is a win for students and parents in a historically blue county.”

In the Pinellas County third race for a school board spot, Stacy Geier, who was endorsed by DeSantis and the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, received 37% of votes, while her opponents Katie Blaxberg (34%) and Brad DeCorte (28%) trailed behind, according to the AP. Since none of the candidates received at least 50% of the vote, they will need to do a runoff election.

Pinellas County is one of the biggest swing counties, and school board chair Laura Hine had 69% of the vote, beating DeSantis-backed opponent Danielle Marolf who had 30% in the preliminary results, according to the AP. Eileen Long, an incumbent member also won against her DeSantis-backed opponent Erika Picard, 54% to 45%.

“We have got to stay focused on that work at hand and not be subject to the social political winds,” Laura Hine told the AP before the elections. “Education is vital. And it has to be stable.”

The group Moms for Liberty had endorsed 14 candidates across different counties in the state, according to their X account. The group posted the endorsements with the caption “Now is the time to stand for your children! Bring your friends and family with you and go elect parental rights candidates.”

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