Florida’s Red Wave and DeSantis’ Push for Parental Rights: ‘He’s Dead On with the Pulse of the Parents’

FORT MYERS (FLV) – Tuesday’s elections resulted in a crimson wash across the state as school boards, local governments and counties flipped red.

That wash included Gov. Ron DeSantis emerging as the clear victor against his Democrat opponent. Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz believes the results display the outpouring of support for the governor’s education agenda.

“I think that you saw that the governor is dead on with the feelings of the electorate. With the feelings of the constituents in the state of Florida. With the feelings of parents,” Diaz said.

“So I think he just has a knack for having the complete pulse and the election is an indication of that. You see it’s manifested itself with the results that tell you that parents want more of this.”

As a lawmaker, Diaz sponsored the “Stop WOKE Act” and supported other pieces of legislation including the Parental Rights in Education law – both receiving ample support from DeSantis.

The Stop “WOKE” Act bans educators from teaching students that their “moral character” is determined by race, sex, or national origin. The Parental Rights in Education law prohibits educators from instructing K-3 grade students on sexual orientation and gender identity.

“They want basic education, not indoctrination. They want that woke ideology out of our schools. They want the gender ideology out of our schools. And he is completely correct,” Diaz said. “They want school choice, they want the opportunity to make these choices of where they can send their students, especially after COVID and what they’ve seen.”

The governor heavily campaigned on parental rights in schools. He made the unprecedented move to endorse 30 non-partisan school board candidates and launched an initiative allowing voters to see if school board candidates aligned with his “pro-parent” agenda.

“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,” DeSantis said on the campaign trail.

DeSantis’ gubernatorial opponent, Charlie Crist, chose a teachers union president as his running mate.

Out of the slew of 30 endorsed candidates, 24 of them claimed victory. Moms for Liberty celebrated several of their endorsed “pro-parent” candidates being elected in Florida and across the country. For example, the group said two of their endorsed candidates won in Pinellas County, creating a “majority of school board members that value parental rights.”

“I think parental rights is a winning issue and is an issue of principle and it’s not a partisan issue,” Moms for Liberty Co-Founder Tiffany Justice told Florida’s Voice.

Justice pointed to Alicia Farrant in Orange County and three DeSantis-endorsed school board candidates as other big wins.

“I think we’ve made it very easy and very clear what some of those issues that are most important to parents are,” Justice said.

Moms for Liberty was founded in 2021 by parents and former school board members. Their mission focuses on defending parental rights with a massive grassroots network of parents across the country.

Justice believes the organization created space for the governor to endorse school board candidates and root for parental rights.

“Elected officials are great and I’ve been one,” Justice said. “But they can’t do anything on their own. They need an army behind them, supporting them, in order to make things happen.”