DeSantis faces school board setback as endorsed candidates suffer defeat

Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R-FL) goal of electing conservative school boards across Florida hit several roadblocks Tuesday night, with nearly half of his endorsed candidates suffering defeat.

DeSantis, who has made national headlines for his stance on education in the Sunshine State, endorsed 23 candidates for Tuesday’s elections, and 11 appear to have lost, per Florida’s unofficial counts. Only six of DeSantis’s endorsed candidates won outright, while the remaining six are heading to runoff elections in November.

This is a dramatic change from 2022, when only five of the governor’s 30 endorsed candidates suffered defeat.

Though Florida’s school board elections are nonpartisan, conservative candidates have nabbed endorsements from Republicans like DeSantis and groups such as Moms for Liberty. State Democrats and the Florida Education Association have rolled out endorsements to their preferred candidates, as well.

Florida Democrats endorsed 11 candidates, and seven of them won, according to a Politico review, with two heading to a runoff election.

Of the four matchups in which Democrats and Republicans went head-to-head, Democrats won two and DeSantis won one, while the other is set to go to a runoff. Book-banning and parents’ role in education, two areas DeSantis has been vocal about, were top of mind for school board candidates.

The 11-candidate loss is the latest setback for DeSantis, who consolidated power through appointments to the Florida Supreme Court and school boards. His allies in the state legislature, reshaped by DeSantis as well, helped pass a law last year that said the governor would not need to resign to run for president.

DeSantis later dropped out of the 2024 presidential race when it was clear he could not defeat former President Donald Trump in the primary.

When reached for comment, a DeSantis spokesperson pointed the Washington Examiner to his Wednesday press conference addressing the races.

“We want to support school board candidates in whatever capacity we can that believe in putting students first, that respect the rights of parents, and that believe schools should educate not indoctrinate,” DeSantis said. “That really shouldn’t even be debatable, but it is now, just given where some of the people wanna take education. So when there’s candidates that line up, we’ve been supportive.”

“My view is, you need to field the candidates and run them all across the board. You shouldn’t be ceding any of these elections” in areas where Republicans typically aren’t competitive, DeSantis continued.

The Florida Democratic Party has not responded to a request for comment.