On Monday, as he readies to run for another term, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign announced the “DeSantis Education Agenda Tour,” launching Sunday, August 21 and including stops in Miami-Dade, Sarasota, Volusia, and Duval Counties to showcase “his pro-parent, student-first education agenda for Florida.”
DeSantis said he would use the tour to highlight more than 20 school board candidates he has endorsed across the Sunshine State.
“These pro-parent, pro-student local school board candidates are committed to the DeSantis Education Agenda. Parental rights, curriculum transparency, and classrooms free of woke ideology are all on the ballot this election, and it starts with school board elections. Florida’s school boards need members who will defend our students and stand up for parental rights and will ensure Florida’s children are protected from woke ideology in their classrooms. I am proud to stand by each of them,” DeSantis said.
“Governor DeSantis-endorsed school board candidates have pledged to run on the DeSantis Education Agenda: putting students first, protecting parents’ rights, a statewide blueprint for school board candidates and members who are committed to advancing Governor DeSantis’s agenda at the local school board level. Governor DeSantis endorsed these candidates because he is committed to student success, parental rights, and curriculum transparency, which all start at the school board level,” the governor’s campaign team noted.
DeSantis does not face any opposition in the Republican primary later this month. With a little over a week to go, polls show U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., who was elected governor as a Republican back in 2006, is leading state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in the Democratic primary.
DeSantis has backed the following school board candidates:
- Al Hernandez – Pasco County
- Armor Persons – Lee County
- Chad Choate – Manatee County
- Christy Chong – Flagler County
- Cindy Spray – Manatee County
- Col. Richard Tatem – Manatee County
- Darren Horan – Monroe County
- Erin Skipper – Clay County
- Jacqueline Rosario – Indian River County
- Jaime Haynes – Volusia County
- Jennifer Russell – Martin County
- Jill Woolbright – Flagler County
- Robyn Marinelli – Sarasota County
- Sam Fisher – Lee County
- Stephanie Busin – Hendry County
- Phil Leary – Putnam County
- Mildred Russell – Alachua County
- Megan Wright – Brevard County
- April Carney – Duval County
- Charlotte Joyce – Duval County
- Aly Legge – Hillsborough County
- Roberto Alonso – Miami-Dade County
- Monica Colucci – Miami-Dade County
- Bridget Ziegler – Sarasota County
- Timothy Enos – Sarasota County
- Fred Lowry – Volusia County
- Alexandria Suarez – Monroe County
- Stacy Hahn – Hillsborough County
- Patricia Rendon – Hillsborough County
- Rick Nolte – Polk County
