Petersburg, is the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Florida to put together a group focused specifically on parents. “Late breaking issues like we saw in Virginia campaigns caught us by surprise, but it won’t anymore.”Ĭrist, a former Republican governor who is now a Democratic member of Congress from St. “We just have to communicate to parents who have lived through so much now,” he added.
“Parents have been through so much over the last two years as the pandemic has roiled public education and created some never ending political culture wars like in Virginia.” “Democrats are learning from past mistakes,” said Joshua Karp, a Crist spokesperson. Over the summer and fall, the Florida governor fought with local school boards and the Biden administration as he sought to ban mask mandates in schools and withheld state funding from districts that disobeyed his edict. “Those who stand up for parent rights and individual liberties will win in 2022.”Įven before Youngkin’s surprise win, DeSantis prioritized parental choice in schools.
“Governor DeSantis pushed for schools to remain open in 2020 and today it is recognized to have been the right thing to do,” said Helen Aguirre Ferré, executive director of the Republican Party of Florida, in a statement. Political takeaways from Youngkin’s high-profile win in Virginia have quickly seeped into Florida as the state’s GOP-dominated Legislature considers education bills and DeSantis prepares for his reelection bid in November.įlorida Republicans, led by DeSantis, have been amplifying education wedge issues headed into the midterms, focusing on proposals they say would ban the teaching of critical race theory in public schools and devoting more attention to often little-noticed school board races in an attempt to harness the same sort of parental anger that helped propel Younkin to victory. Ron DeSantis too has made education one of his top priorities and regularly blasts “wokeness” in schools while attempting to wrestle control of education from school boards. Parents have clashed over how their children are taught, where they’re taught and what they’re taught, and have fought against issues like critical race theory and book-banning. Now, with 36 governorships on the ballot this year, that Virginia playbook is being put into practice by Republicans - and Democrats like Crist will have to be on the offensive.Įducation has emerged as one of the most heated political or policy issues of the Covid era.
VIRGINIA GOVERNOR ISSUES AD WARS SERIES
He held a series of “Parents Rallies” across Virginia and said his focus on the issue was designed to be replicated by Republicans across the country. Youngkin’s embrace of education issues is widely credited with helping him win in Virginia, a southern state that had in recent years moved blue. “While candidates clearly recognize this, you can’t artificially create parent movements.” In 2022, this will be a determining factor with voters in Florida,” Diaz said. “School choice and parent’s rights to have a say in their children’s education has already shown to be a leading issue in the Virginia election. Manny Diaz Jr., a Miami-area Republican, says there is little doubt education will play a key role in the 2022 midterms and that Republicans have a head start.
President Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points just a year earlier. The group will be an “organizing force for our campaign in our mission to protect education,” said Crist, a former Republican governor in Florida, as he announced the approach.Ĭrist’s move is a clear attempt to boost his chances in the wake of Virginia’s big November upset, where Republican Glenn Youngkin beat Democrat Terry McAuliffe in part by tapping into parents’ anger with local school boards over issues like mask mandates and critical race theory.
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