Battleground Florida: School board party affiliations amendment

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — This November, voters will decide the fate of Amendment 1, which calls for school board races to have the party affiliation next to the names of candidates.

Moderator Ty Russell discusses Amendment 1, whether school board races should have party labels on the ballot, with Former Hillsborough School Board Candidate Myosha Powell and District 5 Pinellas School Board Candidate Katie Blaxberg.

The measure was proposed by Republican lawmakers in Tallahassee. It passed both chambers. Only one Democrat from the Orlando area voted in favor of House Joint Resolution 31. Since it’s an amendment from lawmakers, there’s no financial impact statement required.

The Florida Democratic Party does not want the amendment to pass. Statewide, Republicans are split on the measure.

The ballot summary is as follows:

Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to require members of a district school board to be elected in a partisan election rather than a nonpartisan election and to specify that the amendment only applies to elections held on or after the November 2026 general election. However, partisan primary elections may occur before the 2026 general election for purposes of nominating political party candidates to that office for placement on the 2026 general election ballot.

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