TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSanti’s “parental rights” campaign didn’t win him the Republican presidential nomination, but he’s still waging that fight on another front: Florida’s schools, where the movement could have an impact on public education long after he leaves office.

Although the seats are officially nonpartisan, DeSantis has “woke” ideology in public schools.

Much of the political debate in the races has hinged on “parental rights” at a time when both parties are struggling to win over the contested voting bloc of suburban women. The modern parental rights movement grew out of opposition to pandemic prevention measures in schools and is now animated by complaints about classroom teaching about identity, race and history.

The view from Pinellas County

Katie Blaxberg wants to make school board meetings boring again. But her campaign for an open seat on the Pinellas County School Board on Florida’s Gulf Coast has been anything but.

Since launching her bid, the mother-of-three has been trolled online, branded by opponents as a child abuser and has increased security at her home.

A registered Republican and former legislative aide, Blaxberg supports school choice and parental involvement in the classroom — but said activists behind the parental rights movement have gone too far.

Blaxberg has been on the opposite side of the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative group. Activists aligned with the group have disparaged her online and published information about her children and her home. The section president did not respond to phone and email messages from The Associated Press.

“I don’t want to feel unsafe in my house. And I don’t want my children to feel unsafe in my house, just because I’ve decided to run for public office, says Blaxberg.

Blaxberg is vying for one of the three seats up for grabs on the Pinellas board, which, depending on the outcome of the Aug. 20 election, could determine political control of the district.

Historically known as one of the state’s biggest swing counties, Pinellas has moved to the right in recent years. As at school board meetings across Florida, conservative activists there have read aloud explicit passages from books, likened certain teaching materials to pornography and labeled teachers “groomers.”

“It’s disgusting,” Blaxberg said. “And it’s for shock value.”

It’s part of a political storm sweeping Florida school boards, which critics say has distracted from the mission of achieving student achievement — or the lack thereof. Just 53% of Florida students studying at grade level or higher, according to government data.

“The misinformation that has been spread by this group of people and the intent to … put our teachers in disbelief,” Blaxberg said, “people are tired of it.”

Republican officials rally behind school board candidates

Conservative activists and elected officials work to win majorities in local school districts, which are often among the largest employers and landowners in their counties.

DeSantis built his national profile by exploiting culture wars, banning teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity, and limiting what Florida schools can teach about racism.

He has embraced Moms for Liberty in their efforts to turn around school boards across the country.

“I think moms are the key political force for this 2024 cycle,” DeSantis said at the group’s 2023 national conference in Philadelphia.

“He knows who the true conservative is in my race,” said Pinellas County school board candidate Danielle Marolf, after winning DeSanti’s endorsement.

“My values ​​are actually protecting children,” she said. “To make sure our parents are engaged.”

The Pinellas school board race has caught the attention of other candidates on the ballot.

Florida Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna — whose seat national Democrats have targeted as a potential pickup — has campaigned with Marolf and the other Moms for Liberty-endorsed Pinellas school board candidates, Stacy Geier and Erika Picard.

“Kicked off campaign door knocking this morning with them,” Luna said in a video posted Aug. 3. “We want them to take over the school board.”

Other backers include the Florida Faith Foundations, a group of pastors pushing to elect “the most biblically aligned candidates” to counter what they see as the “Spirit of Antichrist” at work in American life.

“The liberals, the people against God, they run too much in this country,” FFF president Anthony McDaniel said in a YouTube video. He did not respond to multiple emails from The Associated Press.

“So what are we going to do?” McDaniel said. “Few Conservative Competent Christians Elected to Pinellas County School Board.”

Liberal groups push back

Critics say there’s often a pattern when a conservative-leaning school board takes over — they go after the superintendent.

“I’ve seen it on my own board,” said Jennifer Jenkins, a Brevard County school board member who unseated then-incumbent Tina Descovich, who went on to found Moms for Liberty.

After newly elected members took office in November 2022, superintendents in Brevard and three other counties were forced out — moves critics say threw the districts into chaos and cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Erika Picard, a DeSantis-backed candidate in Pinellas, said she supports her district’s superintendent, who has the support of the current board.

“They think somebody at Moms for Liberty is out to get everybody. And that’s just not the case,” Picard said. “I just want to make it very clear: I’m running my own campaign.”

Other DeSantis-affiliated board members have worked to expand prayer in schools, to oppose LGBTQ history month and toss out sex education textbooks.

Liberal advocacy groups have emerged to counter conservative candidates with their own money and messaging. The Florida Democratic Party has advanced its own slate of 11 school board candidates.

Back in Brevard County, Jenkins has decided not to seek re-election. Instead, she’s launching a new PAC called Educated We Stand, to support candidates pushing back on education’s rightward turn.

“Extremism in the area of ​​public education is not something that is palatable to the average family,” Jenkins said.

___ Kate Payne is a staff member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on classified issues.