TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Despite lacking cash and a lead in voter registrations, Florida Democrats are now cheering their Tuesday school board victories. They considered them a rebuff of GOP political influence in Florida school districts and a further sign of the Dem momentum heading into November’s election.
Florida Democrats backed 11 candidates and secured seven victories and two runoffs. Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis had a mixed night. His endorsements lost 11 of 23 races, securing six runoffs, and six wins.
“Ron DeSantis has lost his culture war,” said Florida Democrats Chair Nikki Fried. “Our freedom starts in our schools, and we're proud to have supported candidates who will fight for our students' rights to a quality education.”
During a Wednesday press call, Fried said the wins were a rebuke of conservative culture wars. She thought it was proof the governor’s kingmaker status and PAC dollars didn’t mean as much as they used to.
“It says a lot,” said Fried. “It says that money doesn't win, people do.”
Florida Democrats only invested about $250 per school board candidate in online social media ads— but they tapped into their swelling ground game. Since Vice President Kamala Harris got in about a month ago, the state party and Florida Harris Campaign have secured over 33,000 volunteers. Together they’ve made 2.1 million calls and knocked on 1.2 million doors.
The school board races are just the latest sign of positive momentum, said big-ticket candidates like Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. The former Florida Congresswoman nabbed the Dem nomination for US Senate, during the Tuesday primary.
“The energy is unstoppable,” said Mucarsel-Powell. “We are going to see Florida, once again, be one of those states that the entire country will be watching.”
Florida’s Republicans meanwhile read Tuesday night’s results very differently.
“Florida's not in play,” said Florida GOP Chair Evan Power. “I mean, obviously, some people would like it to be, but we as the Republican Party are acting like we're 10 points down and we're going to put together a ground game that plays like we're 10 points down.”
Despite the exuberance of Florida Democrats, Power considered primary night a “major GOP success.” Republicans had a higher turnout than Dems and nabbed two hard-fought school board seats in Duval County. The party and Florida’s governor said Wednesday the victories flipped the Duval school board conservative— that’s despite the county supporting Republican presidential candidates in the last four presidential cycles.
“We fought in some really tough battlefields, and we were competitive in them, so we're feeling great,” said Power. “We've run out of easy races, and now we're fighting the tough battles, and it becomes much harder now.”
Republicans still have a million voter registration margin over Democrats and raked in a bunch of cash. The latest finance reports show more than $13.4M raised in two-and-a-half months.
Residents of Pasco County told ABC Action News about what will be driving them to the polls this November, including education reform and giving their children opportunities to live the American Dream.
