Moms for Liberty candidates seek majority on Pinellas School Board, must get through opposition

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Three of seven Pinellas County School Board seats are up for election this year, with Moms for Liberty-aligned candidates running in all of them. If two win, the Board will have a majority of far-right members directing priorities for one of the state’s largest School Districts.

Contests for Districts 1, 4 and 5 are on the ballot this year, including incumbents Laura Hine and Eileen Long seeking re-election in Districts 1 and 4, respectively. Carol Cook, who currently represents District 5, is not seeking re-election and three candidates are running to replace her.

Candidates backed by either Moms for Liberty or other aligned conservative groups are running in all three districts, all of them running with support from Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The election comes at a time when School Boards throughout the nation are being targeted in ways rarely seen in the past, as conservative powers push a so-called “parental rights” agenda that has led to criticism over book bans, restrictions on LGBTQ+ students and what some describe as revisionist history.

Here’s a breakdown of each race.

District 1 (at large)

Hine is the incumbent for this countywide seat, and she’s currently serving as the School Board Chair. She’s one of two School Board members in the district DeSantis is targeting to unseat this year. That’s where Danielle Marolf comes in.

Marolf has, during public appearances, discussed the need to “flip” the School Board, a term she hasn’t defined but that typically means replacing one political party advantage with another. While School Board races are nonpartisan, in this case it would be akin to flipping the Board red, though some would argue it’s not even all that blue right now. Hine, for example, is not just elected to a nonpartisan seat, she defines herself as nonpartisan.

Marolf has also publicly told supporters she wants to bring conservative and religious values to schools, while repeating oft-cited complaints from GOP leaders about liberal indoctrination in schools, typically attributed to things like critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion-type programs. Marolf, in particular, has expressed support for removing books she deems pornographic from school libraries.

Controversies over book bans throughout the state have been ongoing since at least 2022, with books addressing issues facing LGBTQ students or students from LGBTQ families often targeted.

Hine, meanwhile, has been avoiding the culture war arguments surrounding public education and has focused her campaign on “the success of all students in Pinellas County and excellence across our schools.” She’s running on a platform that emphasizes literacy, early education, middle school potential, robust workforce pathways, and harnessing technology while also mitigating any potential negative impacts on youth and society.

Hine is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in aerospace engineering. Throughout her tenure — she was elected to the School Board in 2020 — she has focused on student experience and achievement, including creating a new three-year strategic plan and increasing salaries for teachers.

While Marolf has publicly stated during campaign events support for issues that align with Moms for Liberty and other conservative groups, voters would be forgiven for missing that rhetoric on her campaign website. There, Marolf lists a series of nonpartisan priorities, including keeping students and teachers safe, involving parents in their children’s learning, advocating for teachers through better pay and a higher sense of value, supporting trades education and prioritizing critical thinking.

While money isn’t the only indicator in an election, Hine has the cash edge in the race. As of Aug. 2, Hine had raised nearly $185,000 for the race, with $72,000 still on hand for the final push. Marolf, meanwhile, has raised more than $52,000 as of the same date, and had about $29,000 still on hand heading into the final weeks of the election.

District 4

Long was first elected in 2016 and, like Hine, was targeted by DeSantis this cycle. Her challenger, Erika Picard, has DeSantis’ support and is running as a conservative for the seat. But she differs from the other far-right candidates.

Specifically, Picard supports a districtwide tax referendum on the November ballot, which would double the current $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value to fund employee bonuses and expanded arts and technology programming in the School District. Marolf and the District 5 conservative candidate, Stacy Geier, do not support the referendum, though they do support the goals it would fund.

Picard has worked in Pinellas public schools as a substitute teacher, an exceptional student education teacher and a school counselor, including stints at Dunedin Middle School, Seminole High School, Clearwater High School, Dunedin High School and Palm Harbor University High School, where she still serves. She holds an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education and a master’s degree in school counseling.

Long holds a degree in special education, with additional certifications in English as a second language and reading. She was a teacher for 34 years, including in Hillsborough County for the first two years and the remaining 32 in Pinellas County. Her focus as an educator was on middle school, teaching students with special needs and in dropout prevention programs.

Long has been endorsed by the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association and, in its recommendation for her this election, the Tampa Bay Times called her “a sensible thinker who blends her classroom experience with straightforward decision-making.”

The Times also praised Picard’s service as an educator, but criticized her for comments on the campaign trail claiming students are identifying as cats and requesting litter boxes in classrooms, a talking point mocking transgender and nonbinary individuals that has not been substantiated.

The Times recommendation in down-ballot races such as School Board, where voters may not be as well informed on the candidates, is typically a big deal, but Picard has the money edge in this race to potentially overcome any resulting deficit. She’s raised more than $42,000 as of Aug. 2, compared to just under $28,000 raised by Long. But Long had more cash on hand for the final push, at about $15,000. Picard ended the period with less than $10,000 on hand.

District 5

With Cook retiring from office, this is the only School Board race this year that is open, and it’s the only race with the possibility of a runoff in November.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote the top two vote-getters will move onto the November General Election.

The race features conservative Geier, moderate Republican Katie Blaxberg and Democrat Brad DeCorte.

Geier, like Marolf and Picard, has support from DeSantis. She also has a nod from conservative firebrand, U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, both of the School Board’s current conservative members — Stephanie Meyer and Dawn Peters — Republican state Sen. Nick DiCeglie, Republican state Rep. Berny Jacques and others. A cabinet contractor by trade, she is running in alignment with Moms for Liberty, including with an emphasis on student safety and parental rights.

Blaxberg, meanwhile, is a registered Republican, but she’s faced criticism from members of the GOP for flip-flopping. She was briefly registered as a Democrat after becoming disillusioned by former President Donald Trump and his rhetoric toward women. In an interview with Florida Politics, Blaxberg explained her party inconsistency, attributing her foray into the Democratic Party to trauma from herself being a survivor of sexual assault.

The party affiliation is important because District 5 leans conservative, with a more than 14,000 voter advantage for the GOP.

Blaxberg, who has support from Republican Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala, who she once served as a legislative aide, is hoping her moderate campaign — which emphasizes the importance of parental involvement and school choice — will attract conservative voters who don’t necessarily align with the more extreme Moms for Liberty messaging.

DeCorte, meanwhile, may have longer odds. While he has an impressive résumé — he spent the last 22 years teaching English at Tarpon Springs Middle School and is a Navy veteran — his political affiliation could be a liability in the conservative district.

And DeCorte is far behind in funding. As of Aug. 2 he’s raised just over $10,000 and had less than $7,000 remaining for a final push. Meanwhile, Blaxberg raised more than $42,000 and had about $16,000 on hand while Geier raised $44,000 and had $21,000 left in the bank.