{"id":2324215,"date":"2024-08-14T06:43:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T10:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/parents-reward-school-choice-candidates-across-the-country\/"},"modified":"2024-08-14T06:46:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T10:46:30","slug":"parents-reward-school-choice-candidates-across-the-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/parents-reward-school-choice-candidates-across-the-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents Reward School Choice Candidates Across The Country"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fparents-reward-school-choice-candidates-across-the-country%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2324215&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The recent primary elections in several U.S. states have underscored a \u2062significant \u200dshift in voter\u200c preferences regarding school \u200dchoice, particularly among Republican officials. \u200dVoters in Missouri \u2064have backed\u200c six <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/teachers-union-backed-gop-reps-fall-in-primaries\/\" title=\"Teachers Union-Backed GOP Reps. Fall in Primaries\">pro-school choice candidates<\/a>, resulting in the defeat of incumbents who opposed educational options, including Representative Kyle Marquart\u200d and Gary Bonacker. In Tennessee, Governor \u2064Bill Lee successfully endorsed candidates who favor expanding\u200d school choice after a previous legislative setback, with 12 of 15 endorsed candidates winning their primaries. The Texas primary saw the ousting of six representatives against school choice, with a total of 14 seats flipping to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hypocrisy-top-dems-including-biden-pelosi-oppose-school-choice-but-send-their-kids-to-private-school\/\" title=\"Hypocrisy: Top Dems Including Biden, Pelosi Oppose School Choice but Send Their Kids to Private School\">pro-school choice advocates<\/a>. Idaho&#8217;s elections led to the defeat of numerous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-watch-michigan-gop-slams-gretchen-whitmer-for-disastrous-school-policies\/\" title=\"Exclusive \u2014 Watch: Michigan GOP Slams Gretchen Whitmer for Disastrous School Policies\">anti-school choice<\/a> incumbents, \u200dand Kentucky witnessed \u2064significant victories for school choice supporters as well. These trends indicate \u2064that Republican voters increasingly favor representatives who will\u2064 promote educational freedom, compelling current \u2062officials to reconsider their positions on \u200dschool choice policies.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The primary election results in a handful of states have made one thing clear &mdash; Republican elected officials who are anti-school choice are getting voted out of office while education-freedom champions are securing state house and senate seats.<\/p>\n<p>Voters in Missouri selected&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/links.afcvf.com\/e\/evib?_t=db6bf2303d0b40178b946cf4de7c66bd&amp;_m=7b9ae210352c4475a91215f5f85b7d2f&amp;_e=cTwpLJRuCX9Jc3DQgo1Xhnx78Fm7I3Ow6HgRPZ1wXaRizBOIaF4P5g4OiWaVcThM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">six<\/a>&nbsp;pro-school choice candidates in their August 6 primary election. Representative Kyle Marquart, R-District 109, who voted against school choice and was endorsed by the teachers unions, was defeated by more than&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DeAngelisCorey\/status\/1821016358689087870\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10 points<\/a>&nbsp;by John Simmons, a school choice supporter. Incumbent Gary Bonacker, R-District 111, who opposes school choice, lost by nearly&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DeAngelisCorey\/status\/1821015106240581685\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18 and a half points<\/a>&nbsp;to Cecelie Williams, who supports school choice. The victory for Williams guarantees her appointment to the Missouri House of Representatives, as she will run&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/2024\/08\/07\/incumbent-missouri-senators-survive-primary-challenges-across-the-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unopposed<\/a>&nbsp;in November.<\/p>\n<p>In Tennessee, after Gov. Bill Lee saw the statewide education freedom bill <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/news\/education\/2024\/04\/22\/tennessee-school-voucher-expansion-failure-reaction\/73410185007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fail<\/a> to make it across the finish line in the 2024 legislative session, he went to work endorsing candidates who favored&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/opinion\/columnists\/david-plazas\/2024\/08\/06\/trump-tennessee-gov-bill-lee-republican-insult-rino\/74688154007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expanding<\/a>&nbsp;school choice from &ldquo;three to all 95 Tennessee counties.&rdquo; His effort was successful as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsmv.com\/2024\/08\/08\/tn-governor-hopeful-school-voucher-plan-will-move-forward-next-legislative-session\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">12 out of 15<\/a>&nbsp;candidates he endorsed secured victory in the state&rsquo;s primary election on August 1.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, the Texas primary election resulted in the ousting of six representatives who voted against school choice during the most recent legislative session. The Texas&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/texas\/news\/texas-houses-shift-to-the-right-expected-to-cause-contention-at-state-capitol\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">runoff election<\/a>&nbsp;a few months later found three more representatives opposed to school choice voted out of office. Additionally, five other anti-school choice representatives, seeing the writing on the wall, lost seats by forgoing reelection. School choice advocates picking up 14 seats equates to a 28-point positive swing, more than offsetting the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2024\/06\/04\/opinion-greg-abbott-went-to-war-with-texas-rinos-over-school-choice-he-appears-to-have-won-dr-keri-d-ingraham\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">21-point defeat<\/a>&nbsp;of education freedom in the house during Texas&rsquo; fourth special session last November.<\/p>\n<p>In May, the primary election in Idaho saw 15 incumbents lose their positions. According to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lmtribune.com\/northwest\/school-choice-push-may-gain-momentum-in-idahos-primary-election\/article_13d66271-10fe-50e5-a468-8f8b60323721.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lewiston Tribune<\/a>, &ldquo;Several lawmakers who had been staunchly against &hellip; school choice proposals were defeated in their primaries, including the House Education Committee Chair Julie Yamamoto, R-Caldwell.&rdquo; According to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DeAngelisCorey\/status\/1793664106588778874\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Corey DeAngelis<\/a>, three Republicans in the Idaho House who had &ldquo;the most support from the teachers unions&rdquo; lost in the primary election, while their opponents all support school choice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In Kentucky&rsquo;s primary election in May, the two Republican representatives who received &ldquo;the most money from the teachers unions&rdquo; experienced embarrassing defeat by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DeAngelisCorey\/status\/1793090480970023382\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">44 and 48 points<\/a>&nbsp;each. School choice supporters were victorious.<\/p>\n<p>Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Idaho, and Kentucky testify that Republican voters want representatives and senators who will advance school choice. As these primary elections have undeniably revealed, it&rsquo;s no longer a politically wise move for Republican state officials to oppose empowering parents with educational options for their children if they want to get reelected.<\/p>\n<p>Other elected state officials are taking notice and perhaps rethinking their opposition to school choice. Idaho State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield, who hasn&rsquo;t been a school choice advocate, recently&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahoednews.org\/top-news\/analysis-a-surprising-school-choice-twist-and-a-tangled-facilities-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shared<\/a>&nbsp;that &ldquo;she is talking with the governor&rsquo;s office about a private school choice bill.&rdquo; Undoubtedly, Critchfield and Gov. Brad Little, R-Idaho, are feeling the political pressure as it becomes clear that empowering parents with school choice for their children is a winning strategy while opposing it could be politically fatal.<\/p>\n<p>Govs. Doug Ducey, R-Ariz., Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, R-Ark., Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., Jeff Landry, R-La., and Greg Abbott, R-Texas, have been standout education-freedom champions.<\/p>\n<p>For Abbott, his steadfast resolve is unwavering, and now, the groundwork has been laid through the results of the Texas primary election. As he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GregAbbott_TX\/status\/1820929246287564998\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">posted on X<\/a>&nbsp;this week, &ldquo;During the upcoming legislative session, we&rsquo;re going to work to make school choice a reality. Parents matter &mdash; and choosing where they send their children to school matters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2024\/jul\/22\/families-with-schoolchildren-should-flee-californi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Twelve states<\/a> have enacted universal or near-universal school choice into law over the past three years, and more education freedom wins will occur in 2025 and beyond. There are 13 other states with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/State_government_trifectas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Republican trifectas<\/a>&nbsp;(Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming) whose elected officials can and must get the job done for the families of their state &mdash; or sooner or later risk losing their political position.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Dr. Keri D. Ingraham is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, Director of the American Center for Transforming Education, and a Senior Fellow at Independent Women&rsquo;s Forum.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The results of recent primary elections in several states have highlighted a significant trend: Republican officials who oppose school choice are being removed from office, while those who advocate for educational freedom are winning seats in state legislatures. In Missouri, voters chose six candidates supportive of school choice during the August 6 primary. Notably, Representative Kyle Marquart, R-District 109, who opposed school choice and had the backing of teachers&#8217; unions, lost to John Simmons by over 10 points. Incumbent Gary Bonacker, R-District 111, also against school choice, was defeated by nearly 18 and a half points by Cecelie Williams, a pro-school choice candidate. Williams&#8217;s victory ensures her unopposed election to the Missouri House in November.<\/p>\n<p>In Tennessee, after Governor Bill Lee&#8217;s statewide education freedom bill failed to pass during the 2024 legislative session, he endorsed candidates advocating for expanded school choice across all counties in Tennessee. His efforts paid off as 12 out of the 15 endorsed candidates won their primaries on August 1.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year in Texas&#8217;s primary elections, six representatives who voted against school choice were ousted. A subsequent runoff election saw three more anti-school choice representatives lose their positions. Additionally, five other opponents chose not to seek reelection amid these trends. The net gain for pro-school choice advocates amounted to 14 seats\u2014a significant turnaround compared to last November\u2019s defeat regarding education freedom.<\/p>\n<p>Idaho&#8217;s May primary resulted in the loss of positions for 15 incumbents; several lawmakers known for opposing school choice proposals were defeated\u2014including House Education Committee Chair Julie Yamamoto\u2014while their challengers supported educational options.<\/p>\n<p>In Kentucky\u2019s May primaries as well, two Republican representatives with substantial financial backing from teachers&#8217; unions faced major defeats by margins of up to nearly fifty points; supporters of school choice emerged victorious there too.<\/p>\n<p>These outcomes from Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Idaho and Kentucky indicate that Republican voters favor representatives committed to advancing educational choices for families. The results suggest that opposing parental empowerment through educational options is becoming increasingly politically risky for Republican officials seeking reelection.<\/p>\n<p>Other elected officials are beginning to take note and reconsider their stance on school choice; Idaho State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield recently indicated she is discussing a private school option bill with the governor\u2019s office\u2014likely influenced by growing political pressure surrounding this issue.<\/p>\n<p>Prominent governors such as Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.), Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa), Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.), Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), Kevin Stitt (R-Okla.), Jeff Landry (R-La.), and Greg Abbott (R-Texas) have emerged as strong advocates for education freedom.<\/p>\n<p>Abbott remains steadfastly committed; following Texas&#8217;s primary results he stated on X that efforts will be made during the upcoming legislative session to realize true school choice because parents\u2019 ability to choose schools matters significantly.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past three years alone twelve states have enacted universal or near-universal laws supporting school choices\u2014and more victories are anticipated beyond just next year into future sessions. There remain thirteen other states with Republican trifectas where elected leaders must act decisively on behalf of families or risk losing their political standing eventually.<br \/>\nDr. Keri D. Ingraham serves as a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and Director at American Center for Transforming Education among other roles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1539,"featured_media":2324216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-62.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5007,4226,38091],"class_list":["post-2324215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-parents","tag-reward","tag-school-choice"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-62.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2324215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2324216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2324215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2324215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2324215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}