Ron DeSantis Suffers String of Defeats in Florida School Board Races

https://www.newsweek.com/ron-desantis-suffers-defeats-florida-school-board-races-moms-liberty-1942221

41 Comments

  1. If the state where Donny J has his little “resort” flips to blue, he’s going to have an aneurism.

  2. >The [Republican](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/republican) governor, who has [sought to reshape his state’s education system](https://www.newsweek.com/ron-desantis-celebrates-dont-say-gay-law-settlement-1878145) by regulating how schools deal with subjects such as race, sexual orientation and gender, threw his support behind 23 school board candidates last month.

    >A majority of those candidates lost their races on Tuesday.

    >*”People want sanity. People want common sense. And people believe we should educate everyone,” Long told The Associated Press. “The people have spoken.”*

    Good. I hope DeSantis continues taking losses. It brings me great joy to see Florida rebuke DeSantis and his Moms for Christian nationalism coterie away, for their un-American values.

  3. makeanamejoke on

    Normal people hate these weirdos taking over school boards. It’s great to see this response over the years.

  4. Unlucky_Clover on

    Honestly, if I see a candidate saying they have DeSantis endorsement, I automatically disregard them as a viable candidate

  5. From the [Tampa Bay Times:](https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2024/08/20/desantis-endorsed-school-board-candidates-florida-mostly-struggled/)

    >In other parts of the state, Sarasota County incumbent Karen Rose, who had been allied with [Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler](https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2024/05/17/bridget-ziegler-helped-christian-ziegler-prowl-women-records-show/), was ousted from her post. Two Indian River County candidates backed by DeSantis lost, as did one in Pasco County, one in Flagler County and one in St. Lucie County.

  6. From the [Tampa Bay Times](https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2024/08/20/desantis-endorsed-school-board-candidates-florida-mostly-struggled/):

    >DeSantis, who still appears to have aspirations for the presidency, attempted to build upon 2022 efforts to swing school boards, a first in modern Florida politics. That time out, he found success in all but a handful of races he waded into.

    >***This year, he took the added step of*** [***targeting sitting board members***](https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2023/02/22/desantis-targets-4-tampa-bay-area-school-board-members-2024-election/) ***in several counties, including Pinellas and Hillsborough, saying they were too liberal. Groups backing the slate endorsed by DeSantis, such as Empower Parents Florida and Celebrate Achievement, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on*** [***mailers***](https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2024/08/19/pinellas-campaign-ad-may-have-violated-state-law-it-might-not-matter/) ***both touting the candidates they liked and trashing those they opposed.***

    >***They attacked the opposition as socialists advancing radical agendas that harm students and as pedophiles for wanting to curb censorship of library books that mention sexuality.***

    >*The races grew nasty and partisan in advance of a November referendum seeking to amend the state Constitution so school board seats no longer would be nonpartisan. The Republican-dominated Legislature placed the item on the ballot, arguing that voters have the right to know the political leanings of the candidates seeking to govern local public schools.*

    >Besides, they contended, the campaigns have become increasingly more partisan anyway, so the net effect would be minimal.

    DeSantis is literally trying to turn school board elections (elections that are supposed to be non-partisan out of the best interest of the schoolchildren) into political races that essentially allow SuperPACs to donate unlimited money to mud-sling and castigate opponents in xenophobic hate.

    There is no low DeSantis won’t sink to.

  7. Maxeme Tuchman is the CEO and creator of the app Caribu, Mattel’s interactive video-calling platform that helps kids have virtual playdates with family and friends when they can’t be physically together. It was named by Apple as one of the 15 best apps of 2020.

    She is running against Mary Blanco, a DeSantis and Moms for Liberty extremist running for Miami-Dade’s District 7.

    Here is more from the [Miami Herald:](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article291085975.html#storylink=cpy🙂

    >District 7 is also poised for a run off. DeSantis appointee Mary Blanco wasn’t able to secure 50 percent plus one votes. She received 44.70 percent of the votes. She will face off against Maxeme Tuchman, a teacher and entrepreneur who was endorsed by the teacher’s union. Tuchman recieved 31.28 percent of the votes. Tuchman is a registered Democrat. Blanco is a guidance counselor at a Catholic school in Miami.

    >***This was the first race for Blanco since being appointed by Governor DeSantis in January 2023 after school board member Lubby Navarro stepped down. Navarro was subsequently arrested for misuse of district funds. Blanco is a registered Republican.***

    >*“I will clearly contrast my values and vision for our students and school system against the extreme liberal agenda my opponents and her party are trying to impose upon us in school district 7,” said Blanco in a statement after learning that the race will continue to a run-off.*

    >*Max Tuchman was proud of the fact that she was able to challenge a candidate endorsed by the Governor.*

    >***“The fact that we put up a fight, that the Governor didn’t win this outright with his candidate, I think says a lot,” said Tuchman.***

    Here is some information on Maxeme Tuchman: [https://www.newpolitics.org/candidate/maxeme-tuchman](https://www.newpolitics.org/candidate/maxeme-tuchman)

    [https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxemetuchman/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxemetuchman/)

  8. Ohnoherewego13 on

    GOOD! Turn Florida blue and show the world we don’t want these MAGA nuts anymore!

  9. VaguelyArtistic on

    This is why it’s important to vote. There are no ideal presidential candidates but there are a lot of really, really shitty candidates all the way down the ballot who sail to victory when people don’t vote.

  10. dankeykong1331 on

    They got a win here in Tallahassee in my predominately white neighborhood. At least it was close and the M4L candidate spent over 100k. My neighbors suck.

  11. I did my part. Probably gonna celebrate with another donation to the Kamala/Walz ticket.

  12. I’m sure DeShitstain’s covid response helped will knocking off a significant portion of reliable red votes in local races.

  13. MAGA dies for all of these reasons:
    -Harris beats Trump
    -The decisive victory Harris will beat Trump by
    -States like Florida and Texas are either way too close for comfort or lost outright.

  14. Florida is still a purple state. I really don’t understand his extreme policies. Hopefully, it’s the cause of his downfall soon. He thinks he and his policies are popular in the country, but look at what happened to his failed presidential bid lmao

  15. Wereplatypus42 on

    He was re-elected with a wide margin based on COVID lockdowns and Florida’s temporarily better than average economy that resulted from it.

    But then everyone saw him in Iowa, trying and failing to act like a human being. Everyone saw his terrible primary debates. His total failure to attack the actual GOP front runner too chicken shit to get on stage. It was before his dumb fucking feud with Disney, before he went scorched earth on state colleges and public education to fill whatever racist and bigoted grievance he has, before he proved himself to be a total weirdo with the bizarrest set of *too online* priorities that the average person could give two shits about.

    I’m not sure he could even win re-election himself after his conduct these last couple years.

  16. sorospaidmetosaythis on

    Remember when DeSantis was the scary, fierce up-and-coming national powerhouse 2024 GOP presidential bronzed bulging ripped Aztec warrior candidate?

    How about Bobby Jindal, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, or Scott Walker? What is it with the media’s need to anoint milquetoasts, problematic and uncharismatic candidates as *The Next Great Thing*?

  17. Mission-Argument1679 on

    Turns out “WAHHH! WOKE! WAHHH! WOKE! WAHHH!” isn’t a good platform.

    Who knew?

  18. ThisIsTheShway on

    To this day I can’t believe people think teachers unions are bad. These fuckers are such imbeciles.

  19. winkelschleifer on

    Wonderful news. Off the charts, far right wing politics tend to alienate many voters. Go suck on that Ron.

  20. A lot of Redditors think it’s cute and helpful to share that bugs bunny sawing off Florida meme gif because they assume Florida has no decent people. This is one reason why you don’t rule out entire large areas of human beings from being a legitimate part of your country.

  21. Thank god. More than most other institutions (with perhaps the exception of the courts), these fascists’ infiltration of the school system is the thing that’s had me most worried.