Hillsborough School Board races hinge on ‘parental rights,’ banned books and Moms For Liberty

Image via Jessica Vaughn.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Democratic Party’s battle over nonpartisan school boards will play out during Tuesday’s Primary, including Hillsborough County Districts 1 and 3.

Hillsborough was one of 10 counties to resist DeSantis’ Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay,” in 2022 — making its more liberal board members and candidates a target this election.

His parental rights movement fizzled this year, but GOP-backed candidates are looking to reignite it.

District 1

DeSantis placed his bets on Layla Collins to represent Northwest Hillsborough and parts of West Tampa. The wife of Republican state Sen. Jay Collins challenges Democratic Party-backed incumbent Nadia Combs. Candidate Julie Magill, while a registered Republican and believer in DeSantis’ parental rights platform, is not GOP-endorsed.

Collins, an Army veteran, has more than doubled Combs’ fundraising, with more than $136,000 raised, and has backing from many of her husband’s supporters, including Marco Rubio. She told the Tampa Bay Times the state should pursue other options before imposing a proposed $1 million property tax for teacher pay. Parental control in education is one of her top issues.

Combs, a former teacher who owns a tutoring center, is one of two board members on the Hillsborough School Board DeSantis and the conservative group Moms For Liberty targeted for defeat this year.

She supports the property tax and stands by the closing of six under-enrolled schools in the district last year. She initiated an early learning task force last year, and wants to expand technical and vocational training.

Combs isn’t intimidated by Collins’ fundraising. She crushed highly-funded Republican incumbent Steve Cona in 2020.

“I’ll just have to let the voters remember who I am and do a grass-roots effort. I’ll never be able to match their spending,” she told the Times about Collins last year.

Magill, a real estate broker and general contractor, opposes the property tax. She told the Tampa Bay Times the closed schools should be vocational centers. Her priorities include redistributing school budgets in a way she believes would be more fair and providing more mental health resources at schools along with resource officers. She also previously said she supports arming qualified teachers. She previously claimed Collins’ campaign bribed her to leave the race. Her campaign raised a little over $4,800.

District 3

Democrats have endorsed incumbent Jessica Vaughn after DeSantis backed her challenger, Myosha Powell. Vaughn is the other Hillsborough School Board member DeSantis and Moms For Liberty have targeted this year.

Vaughn, a former teacher and the school board’s vice chair, has raised more than $63,000. Her endorsements include commissioner Harry Cohen and Tampa City Council member Luis Viera. She supports the property tax and voted against the school closings. She wants to expand North Hillsborough’s access to Montessori, IB magnets and community schools as well as middle school sports, she told Patch.

Powell, a self-described parents’ ally, is also endorsed by Jay Collins and state Rep. Danny Alvarez. She’s raised a little under $23,000. Her professional online presence beyond campaigning is scarce. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Mass Communication/Media Studies in 2013, according to LinkedIn, where she’s described as a “contractor.” She moved to Tampa from New York in 2005, according to her website.

Her main priorities are addressing low literacy rates and keeping books deemed explicit off school shelves.

“I’ve often worried that the activism happening in the New York school systems would happen here in Tampa,” she wrote on her campaign website. “I don’t want that for my future family or any other. After attending several school board meetings and seeing the disregard, antagonization, and condescension parents were met with by school board members, it was clear that parents had few allies on the board.”

Districts 5 and 7

State Democrats and Republicans didn’t weigh in on Districts 5 and 7, but party issues are evident in the latter.

District 7 challenger Karen Bendorf is endorsed by Republican state Rep. Lawrence McClure and lists “empowering parents” as her top priority. Another, Jen Flebotte, is adamant about getting “explicit books” out of schools and criticized the School Board as being dominated by “raging liberals.”

District 7 incumbent Lynn Gray, a longtime teacher, is also defending her seat against Johnny Bush, a former principal at Robinson and Plant High Schools. She’s raised more money than her challengers, with more than $87,000.

In District 5, incumbent Henry “Shake” Washington faces Kenneth Gay, a retired Hillsborough County teacher and assistant principal focused on teacher retention, and Elvis Piggott, an activist and preacher.

Write-in candidate Tamara Shamburger wants to take her former seat back. After Washington beat her in 2020, she challenged his win in court, claiming he wasn’t qualified to run, but lost an appeal.

Washington has raised more than his competitors at more than $37,500, but Gay isn’t far behind with around $30,400.

Polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.