MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not vote in Tuesday’s primary. Nor was he any other famous Republican. But Republican voters appear to have gone to the polls anyway, in part because they want to get involved in the extraordinary new political battlefield: the school board campaign.
DeSantis, like other Republicans across the country, has focused his political brand on educational issues related to the coronavirus pandemic and what is being taught in schools. Before the primary, he did something no previous Florida governor had done. He took sides in the nonpartisan school board elections.
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Nearly all of the candidates Mr. DeSantis endorsed won, according to unofficial county election results. The candidate’s victory follows county-level commissions that have come under increasing public scrutiny in recent years, from school closures and mask mandates to how educators handle issues of gender identity and race. is expected to inject conservative priorities into
“Florida has led with purpose and conviction that our school system is about education, not indoctrination,” said DeSantis. Post to Twitter along with an image of his slate of 30 “parent-parent” candidates on Tuesday afternoon. With at least 20 won on Tuesday, the five went to the runoff vote.
There were also incumbents seeking re-election. Others were challenging sitting board members or running for vacancies. After Mr. DeSantis entered the race, the Florida Democrats also stepped in and backed their own agenda.
Republicans poured money into the school board campaign, turning a previously sleepy election campaign into a fierce battle. On Sunday, Mr. DeSantis and several of his candidates held events in his three counties. They called it the “DeSantis Educational Agenda Tour.”
“Florida is a dead state when you wake up!” DeSantis said as he stopped by the Firefighters Union Hall in Doral, Florida, west of Miami.
At the event, Monica Colucci, the independent candidate for the Miami-Dade County Board of Education, condemned “dangerous and radical ideologies that have crept into our classrooms.” She vowed, “We will take back the school board!”
Mr. Colucci won and ousted the longtime incumbent.