How will Tuesday's election results change the Duval County School Board?

How will Tuesday’s election change the Duval County School Board ?

It might make sense to let the winners be sworn in (that happens Nov. 19) before answering, but opinions were taking flight within hours of the polls closing. Here are a few takeaways from the results.

No clean sweep

Political partisans were fully invested in the race, and Jacksonville City Council member Rory Diamond tweeted about “a conservative majority on @DuvalSchools for the first time in a generation.”

But there were unquestionably disappointments on both sides.

Diamond’s pick in the board’s Southside District 3 race, former Moms for Liberty Duval County chair Rebecca Nathanson , fell a few hundred votes short of unseating incumbent Cindy Pearson, a fellow Republican whom Gov. Ron DeSantis reportedly targeted for removal last year.

Pearson’s grassroots supporters and anti-conservative diehards alike celebrated the failure of efforts to oust her.

“We may not be of the same party, [but] boy am I glad Cindy pulled this one out!” tweeted Daniel Henry , chair of the Duval County Democratic Party.

The state Democratic structure had also steered resources to District 7 candidate Sarah Mannion as part of the party’s “Take Back Local” drive to help 11 candidates block what state chair Nikki Fried called “far-right, Moms for Liberty candidates.” Nine of those Democrats statewide won Tuesday or advanced to runoffs but Mannion lost to Melody Bolduc, a former Duval public schools teacher and Moms for Liberty member who won alongside District 1 counterpart Tony Ricardo .

Round 2 in November

The partisan fight in the formally nonpartisan board race continues in November with a District 5 runoff between Reginald Blount , a 29-year military man with Moms for Liberty backing, and Hank Rogers , chief operations officer for a youth nonprofit and a public policy veteran reporting significant support in the education field.

About that majority

The Duval County Republican Party spelled out its spin on the election late Tuesday night, tweeting that the results “officially FLIP the School Board to a 5-2 conservative Republican majority, with another race to be decided in November. This is the successful culmination of the Duval GOP's six-year strategy to remake the Duval County School Board.”

The result “makes Jacksonville, Florida one of the few major cities in America with a truly conservative school board,” continued the message from Vice Chair Steve Adams. “This momentum will propel the Duval County Republican Party to greater victories for President Trump, Sen. Rick Scott, and our entire Republican Ticket!”

Faith and learning

While it might not affect Duval schools’ operations, the election elevated two members with experience balancing education with Christian values. In the 1980s, Ricardo spent three years as an elementary teacher at New Covenant Christian Academy, which has since closed. Since 2018, Bolduc has run Keys Educational Resources Center Inc. , a business whose website calls it “a Kingdom-minded Christian Educational Resource Center” working with families who homeschool. Bolduc’s campaign website doesn’t talk faith, however, saying instead that “we must immerse our children in high level activities, engage them in mathematical and scientific reasoning with a strong emphasis on reading, writing, and critical thinking.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: How will Tuesday's election results change the Duval County School Board?