Scores of rightwing US extremists were defeated in school-board elections in April, in a victory for the left and what Democrats hope could be effective for running against Republicans in the year ahead.
In Illinois, Democrats said more than 70% of school-board candidates it had endorsed won their races, often defeating the kinds of anti-LGBTQ+ culture-warrior candidates who have taken control of school boards across the country.
Republican-backed candidates in Wisconsin also fared poorly. Moms for Liberty, a rightwing group linked to wealthy Republican donors which has been behind book-banning campaigns in the US, said only eight of its endorsed candidates won election to school boards, and other conservative groups also reported disappointing performances.
The results come as education and free-speech organizations have warned of a new surge in book bans in public schools in America. Over the past two years, conservatives in US states have removed hundreds of books from school classrooms and libraries. The targeted books have largely been texts that address race and LGBTQ+ issues, or are written by people of color or LGBTQ+ authors.
“Fortunately, the voters saw through the hidden extremists who were running for school board – across the [Chicago] suburbs especially,” JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, said after the results came in.
“Really, the extremists got trounced yesterday.”
Pritzker added: “I’m glad that those folks were shown up and, frankly, tossed out.”
The Democratic party of Illinois spent $300,000 on races in Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported, endorsing dozens of candidates. The party said 84 of 117 candidates it had recommended won their races.
Teachers’ unions, including the Illinois Education Association, endorsed candidates in school board elections around the state. The IEA backed candidates in about 100 races, and about 90% of those candidates won, said Kathi Griffin, the organization’s president.
“I would hope that the tide is turning, to make sure that people who want to have those [school board] positions because they want to do good for our kids, continue [to get elected],” Griffin said.
“I think that oftentimes these fringe candidates are funded with dark money. That dark money comes from outside our state.”
The results were disappointing for conservative groups, who had pumped money into races.
The 1776 Project, a political action committee that received funding from Richard Uihlein, a billionaire GOP donor, said only a third of the 63 candidates it had backed in Illinois and Wisconsin won their races. Politico first reported on the lackluster performances.
Union-endorsed candidates won two-thirds of their school-board races in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, although Republican-supported candidates performed better in rural areas.
Ben Hardin, executive director of the Democratic party of Illinois, said “values were on the line in these races”.
“We knew this work wouldn’t be easy, especially given the organized movement from the far right to disguise their true agenda, but we’re grateful that voters saw through the falsehoods and turned out to support credible community advocates,” he said.
“I’m proud that Illinoisans once again voted for fairness, equity and inclusion in our state.”
With other states holding school board elections later this year – and a critical presidential election in 2024 – the successes offered some hope for Democrats.
At the local level, at least, Griffin said the results “showed the value of having relationships within the community”.
“When you have teachers who are part of the community, who have relationships with parents, with other community members who engage in community activities and support that community, there’s a level of trust that is built and that has happened across our state,” she said.
