Following his so-so results with school board endorsements during the primary election in August, Gov. Ron these campaigns hadn鈥檛 drawn as much of his attention because he had 鈥渟o much other stuff going on.鈥�

DeSantis endorsed 23 candidates and watched 11 lose, six win, and six have their fate on hold until this week. Tuesday, four runoffs went in favor of DeSantis endorsees, with wins in Brevard, Miami-Dade, Volusia, and Lee counties.

In all, DeSantis watched 13 of his 23 endorsements lose, while 10 won 鈥� eleven counting his less-formal endorsement of Laurie Cox in Leon County, who won in August against Democratic-endorsed candidate Jeremy Rogers.

Eight-year member Matt Susin won reelection to the Brevard County School Board, fending off Ava Taylor with a margin of nearly 20%. He previously served as chair of the board, which remains fully conservative, .

DeSantis-endorsed Donna Brosemer challenged incumbent Carl Persis to win a seat on the Volusia County School Board. Brosemer finished with 58% of the vote to Persis鈥� 41%.

Vanessa Chaviano, a DeSantis endorsee running for an open seat on the Lee County School Board, beat Sheridan Chester with 69% of the vote to Chester鈥檚 30%, with nearly 300,000 votes cast.

DeSantis鈥� endorsement was not enough for Stacy Geier to claim an open seat on the Pinellas County School Board; she lost to Katie Blaxberg, a . Geier held a 2% edge on Blaxberg in the August primary, although the general favored Blaxberg by more than 4%.

DeSantis endorsee and Air Force veteran Mark Cioffi lost his bid for the Hernando County School Board. He lost to Michelle Bonczek by nearly 10% in the general, despite earning 44% of votes to Bonczek鈥檚 28.8% in the primary, which prompted the runoff.

Democratic endorsements both lose

Two of the Democratic Party鈥檚 11 school board endorsements faced runoffs Tuesday. Of the 11 the party backed, seven won in August. Facing runoffs were Max Tuchman in Miami-Dade and Stephanie Arguello in Seminole County.

Tuchman, a tech entrepreneur, lost in a big way to incumbent and DeSantis endorsee Mary Blanco, who earned 67.88% of votes 鈥� 86,151 to Tuchman鈥檚 40,773. Blanco was appointed to the board a year ago by DeSantis.

Arguello, a public health PhD student, lost to incumbent and chair of the board Abby Sanchez by nearly 6%. Sanchez earned 52.95% of votes, or 114,630 votes to Arguello鈥檚 101,842.

鈥極ther stuff鈥�

The 鈥渙ther stuff鈥� DeSantis alluded to included Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational use of marijuana, and Amendment 4, which would have guaranteed a right to an abortion in the Florida Constitution. Both fell just short of the 60% voter approval threshold.

The governor, the First Lady, and other GOP officials paraded around the state campaigning against the two amendments in the weeks between two major hurricanes and Election Day. Some said the outcomes of the amendments could be a major mark on the governor鈥檚 record, for better or worse, if he chooses to pursue the White House again.

Nonpartisan school board elections will remain, as voters rejected Amendment 1 Tuesday, which would have printed candidates鈥� political party affiliations next to their names on the ballot. The races will remain nonpartisan on paper, although partisan endorsements likely will not stop any time soon.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on and .

鈥淚 spoke in support of the resolution 鈥� for our students, our patients, our families, our communities, our democracy and ourselves!鈥� union President Randi Weingarten wrote on from the AFT鈥檚 2024 convention in Houston. 鈥淟et鈥檚 win this!鈥�

The delegates ratified the AFT Executive Council鈥檚 unanimous vote Sunday evening to endorse Harris, mere hours after President Joe Biden upended the race with his historic announcement that he was giving up his embattled candidacy. The council鈥檚 swift action positioned the country鈥檚 second-largest teachers union as one of the first major labor organizations to get behind the vice president.

鈥淰ice President Harris has fought alongside Joe Biden to deliver historic accomplishments and create a better life for all Americans,鈥� Weingarten said in the statement released early Sunday evening.

鈥淭rump left his successor a country in crisis and chaos, with soaring inflation and an economy in free fall,鈥� she added. 鈥淛oe Biden and Kamala Harris turned it around. They stabilized schools, saved pensions for hundreds of thousands of retired union workers and remade the economy.鈥澛�

The AFT has placed its significant political heft alongside other key unions supporting Harris, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation鈥檚 largest private sector union, and the United Farm Workers, the nation鈥檚 largest farm workers鈥� union.

The labor endorsements followed Biden鈥檚 own for Harris and were promptly joined by a chorus of other , including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Bill and Hillary Clinton and several governors, who were either being considered themselves as potential Biden successors or , such as Michigan鈥檚 Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona also came out in support of Harris on Sunday.

After Biden鈥檚 announcement, Weingarten scrambled to rewrite some of her planned remarks at the kickoff to the convention, according to reporting from Just earlier that morning she criticized efforts to push Biden out of the race, telling Weekly Education, 鈥淭his fantasy that billionaire donors are having, that they can yoke this away from the president because they don鈥檛 like his performance at the debate, is wrong.鈥� 

By the afternoon, though, she emphasized the importance of uniting around

In Harris鈥檚 for president, she advocated for universal preschool and free college and called for a $13,500 raise for every teacher by the end of her first term.

Becky Pringle, president of the nation鈥檚 largest teacher鈥檚 union, the National Education Association, took a different approach to the game-changing news, leaving out any mention of Harris in her tweets Sunday thanking President Biden for his service. Instead, she noted that the NEA will 鈥渞enew our efforts to ensure he is succeeded by a leader equally dedicated to building the future our students, educators, and families deserve.鈥�

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