DeSantis-backed school board candidates fall short in key Florida races

School board candidates backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) fell short in a number of key races Tuesday, a blow to the governor’s efforts to reshape Florida’s education system.

Eleven of 23 school board candidates endorsed by DeSantis appeared to have lost their races Tuesday night, the Tampa Bay Times and Florida Politics reported, while another six races looked headed to November runoffs. 

This year’s losses come after a majority of DeSantis’s endorsed candidates won their school board elections during the 2022 midterms, flipping some liberal-leaning school boards to conservative-leaning.

Incumbents Laura Hine and Eileen Long were poised to fend off DeSantis-endorsed challengers in Pinellas County, according to unofficial results. In Hillsborough County, incumbents Nadia Combs and Jessica Vaughn looked set to do the same, according to results from Fox 13 News.

The Associated Press also reported a pair of DeSantis-appointed school board members in Broward County lost their seats to challengers.

Meanwhile, two DeSantis-supported candidates won their races in Duval County, according to the Miami Herald.

“There were A LOT of uphill battles in historically blue districts today, but you don’t shift the culture by only supporting winnable races,” DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern said in a post on social platform X, calling the Duval County results “a win for students and parents in a historically blue county.”

The Hill has reached out to DeSantis’s team for additional comment. 

Florida school board elections are nonpartisan, but that’s not stopped political figures and groups from weighing in on the races.

DeSantis, who made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency this cycle, has leaned into educational issues as part of his political brand, drawing national attention to the Sunshine State over his “parental rights” push.  

The Florida governor said his chosen candidates this time around had all “pledged to serve with a focus on student success, parental rights, and curriculum transparency.” Local chapters of Moms for Liberty, a conservative education group, were also backing several DeSantis picks for the posts, The Associated Press reported.

Florida voters are set to consider a referendum in November that would reverse a 1998 amendment and allow partisan contests starting in 2026, requiring candidates to disclose their party. Proponents argue the races are already political and that party ID could help voters evaluate candidates, the Tampa Bay Times reported, while critics say the change would further stoke division.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said last week that “partisan politics needs to be out of these conversations,” according to a Florida Phoenix article shared in a release from the party. Florida Democrats endorsed several candidates for school boards, including Vaughn and Combs.

“We are not going to let Ron DeSantis and his allies take over our school boards with far-right, Moms for Liberty candidates,” Fried said.