Palm Beach County School Board incumbents fended off a challenge from more conservative candidates after Marcia Andrews won a fourth term on the board.
Andrews appeared to be easily defeating challenger Jen Showalter. A runoff was held because neither got more than 50% during an August election.
“We worked really hard to get the message that we care about our children, and we wanted to make sure our parents, students, teachers and community knows the School Board is doing the right thing for every child,” Andrews said. “That’s why we had a successful showing at the polls.”
In the District 7 race to replace longtime board member Debra Robinson, two lawyers made it to a runoff. About 8:30 p.m. with most votes in, Ferguson, who ran against Robinson in 2018, had lead over Corey Smith, 50, who was backed by Robinson.
“I’m very happy and ready to get to work for the betterment of our children in Palm Beach County,” Ferguson said.
Although he hoped to join the School Board four years ago, he said that was “a slight delay. We had all the confidence next time around things would go differently, and they did in a big way.”
The district is largely Black and spans from Delray Beach to Riviera Beach.
The Palm Beach County School Board looked like it could be in for a major right turn this summer as seven Republicans and one conservative independent hoped to replace more liberal incumbents.
Most of the challengers attended School Board meetings to speak out against issues such as mask mandates, which the Legislature banned last year, and the teaching of LGBTQ issues and ideas associated withcritical race theory in schools.
Three School Board candidates complained in South Florida Sun Sentinel endorsement interviews of a summer camp at a district school where students were asked to provide their pronouns. Multiple candidates also held campaign events at gun and knife shows, and one candidate, Showalter, held a fundraiser at a gun range.
Similar political movements among conservative parents and activists are happening throughout Florida and nationwide.
Gov. Ron DeSantis entered the fray, issuing a questionnaire to School Board candidates asking such questions as “Should Florida’s students be locked out of school or subjected to forced masking?” and “Do you agree that students should be educated and not indoctrinated?”
DeSantis issued a list of 30 “pro-parent” candidate endorsements. Although several Palm Beach County candidates said they sought his endorsements, the governor stayed out of the race here.
Showalter was the only candidate who made it past the August elections.
“It shouldn’t be partisan. This is a non-partisan race,” Andrews said. ‘But Republicans and Democrats came together to select someone who will work for everyone.”
