Florida voters deliver wins for LGBTQ+ candidates and losses for Moms for Liberty

Florida voters advanced several out candidates on Tuesday and, perhaps just as importantly, handed losses to candidates aligned with the once-dominant Moms for Liberty.

Equality Florida cheered after 81 percent of the candidates it endorsed won their races Tuesday. Those winners included five out LGBTQ+ Democrats seeking seats in the Florida House: Jane Aman, Felipe Sousa Lazaballet, Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Luis Salazar and Todd Delmay. The group’s political arm also celebrated key wins in nonpartisan school board races.

“Last night, Florida voters roared. Moms for Liberty is in free fall. Communities are fighting back against book bans, curriculum censorship, and the whitewashing of history. Voters, from the U.S. Senate and Governor’s races to school boards and state legislative contests, chose pro-equality champions. And we are primed to shatter the conservative supermajorities in the legislature in November,” said Joe Saunders, executive director of Equality Florida Action PAC.

Related: Moms for Liberty Co-Founder to Address Sexual Hypocrisy Scandal at Florida School Board Meeting

“Make no mistake: the pendulum is swinging in the Sunshine State back toward freedom, equality, and dignity for all. Florida is and always will be worth fighting for. Now it’s time to carry this momentum forward to November and write a better, freer chapter in our state’s history.”

Moms for Liberty, however, also touted its own victories and said it’s not done influencing the state yet. In fact, 11 of the 15 candidates formally endorsed by Moms for Liberty won or advanced to runoffs.

"Every couple of years someone in the media writes our obituary, and every couple of years parents show up and prove them wrong," said Tina Descovich, CEO and co-founder of Moms for Liberty. "Eleven of our fifteen endorsed candidates won or advanced last night. Three of three in Brevard. All three in Clay County. These are moms and dads and neighbors who knocked doors and made calls and won, and no consultant or professor quoted in a newspaper gets to tell them they don't exist. School boards are ground zero in the fight for parental rights, and last night Florida parents made that clear."

But even the relatively small number of candidates running with a Moms for Liberty endorsement in the state where the group was founded pointed to its waning influence. Three of the successful candidates were in Descovich’s home county of Brevard.

Equality Florida leaders also noted that the brand has grown so toxic that many candidates who previously openly supported Moms for Liberty eschewed any association with it this year. The group noted that 10 Florida school board members elected with Moms for Liberty endorsements opted not to seek another term, including co-founder Bridget Ziegler, who found herself in the middle of a threesome sex scandal in 2023. In Ziegler’s home county, Equality Florida-backed candidates Megan Tennimon and Beth Mayberry defeated conservatives in Sarasota County School Board races, while another candidate supported by the organization, Jimmy Glover, advanced to a November runoff against a Republican.

Related: Moms for Liberty Candidates Rejected by Voters in Key School Board Elections

In the Orlando area, Angie Gallo, another Equality Florida-supported candidate, unseated Moms for Liberty-associated Orange County School Board member Alicia Farrant, a close ally of outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Saunders said that in 2022, at the height of DeSantis’ political power, Moms for Liberty fielded candidates in 15 counties. The group’s footprint had shrunk considerably by this year. The victories touted by Moms for Liberty came in just four counties, all of which lean Republican.

Additionally, Equality Florida found that 18 candidates who ran with a Moms for Liberty endorsement in 2022 sought reelection without pursuing the group’s support. Three of those candidates lost Tuesday, including Farrant, Volusia County School Board member Jessie Thompson and former Flagler County School Board member Jill Woolbright.

Meanwhile, of the 10 candidates who earned and touted Moms for Liberty endorsements this year, four lost outright Tuesday. Of the 15 candidates backed by Moms for Liberty, seven won outright, while four advanced to November runoffs.