Dear Commons Community

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

Incumbents Laura Hine and Eileen Long were poised to fend off DeSantis-endorsed Danielle Marolf and Erika Picard, respectively, according to unofficial results from the state’s Pinellas County.

In Hillsborough County, incumbents Nadia Combs and Jessica Vaughn also looked set to defeat DeSantis-backed challengers, according to results from Fox 13 News.

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

The results are a blow to DeSantis, who lodged an unsuccessful bid for the White House this cycle. Last cycle, a majority of his endorsed candidates won their school board elections in Florida, flipping some liberal-leaning school boards to conservative.

The Sunshine State governor has leaned hard into educational issues as part of his political brand, while Florida has come under national criticism over controversial book-banning policies and Black history education.

Glad to see that Florida parents are stopping the insanity of DeSantis.!

Tony

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