Issue #192: Leon School Board 4 Race becomes Nasty & Partisan

Anti-LGBT attacks fly from the Leon GOP Chair

Florida’s August primaries, scheduled for August 20th, are fast approaching. I will be writing about several races over the next few weeks, as well as a major article looking at all the big primaries to be decided. I wanted to start this litany of articles with Leon School Board. Why is that? Because one race, based in the NW end of Tallahassee, has rapidly seen partisanship take hold in a way that it has not often before. On top of that, as a Leon resident of 19 years, I have some person thoughts on the disgusting anti-LGBT attacks being lobbed from the right-wing; and the people lobbing those attacks. The race is growing increasingly nasty, and it needs to be talked about.

The Leon County School Districts

Some quick background so that everyone knows how these school board elections work. In Florida, every county has school board members elected at either the district or at-large level. These races are officially non-partisan, and the elections are held during the August primaries. If only two candidates file, the winner in August is elected. If more than two file, and no one gets 50% in August, then the top-two go to a runoff in the November general.

Leon’s School Board districts can be seen below. The district we will be looking at today is District 4; which covers the NW corner of the city of Tallahassee and Leon County broadly.

District 4 covers a litany of Democratic suburbs along Blairstone and Lake Jackson; which cover the west end of the district. Its eastern side is made up of the Republican-aligned suburbs and exurbs; namely Ox Bottom, Summerbrook, Golden Eagle, and Killearn Lakes. As such, district 4 is the most GOP-leaning district in the county. In 2020 it voted for Joe Biden by 7 points while it backed Ron DeSantis by 3 in 2022. Despite being the most evenly-divided district, the seat has been in Democratic hands until very recently.

Dee Dee Rasmussen’s Final Campaign

The district was long held by Dee Dee Rasmussen, who won the post in 2008. A moderate Democrat, Rasmussen was a largely uncontroversial member for her tenure. However, close to the end of her tenure, Rasmussen began to suffer from growing voter frustration over her close ties with the contractors and developers who’d found themselves in hot water over contracts; something that really blew up in the 2016 Superintendent Race. Being a longtime school board incumbent at this point was more of a liability; and one incumbent, Maggie Lewis Butler, was ousted in 2018.

In her 2020 re-election, Rasmussen was challenged by Alexander Stemle; the Dean of students at Deer Lake Middle School. Stemle, a former Republican-turned-independent, came into the race as an outsider but also someone with clear close ties to education. He would win up giving Rasmussen a much tighter race than she’d faced in years. The contest, held in August of 2020; a time where COVID limited campaigns, saw Rasmussen got 60%.

The results were a very strong showing for a first-time candidate amid a pandemic that limited some of his ability to in-person campaign. Stemle won the communities tied to Deer Lake; something no doubt personally gratifying to him even in the loss. He did worse in areas far from his base of support, areas that likely saw little reason to abandon Rasmussen when she had no direct personal scandal.

The Sudden Resignation

Traditionally, this district would not be open again till 2024. It was already understood Rasmussen was likely not going to run again. In January of 2022, Laurie Lawson Cox, a teacher for three decades and wife of the assistant Superintendent of Schools, filed for the 2024 contests and quickly began to raise funds. Many of her donors were the same developer and construction establishment that funded Rasmussen. Then, in May of 2022, Dee Dee Rasmussen opted to resign early from her seat.

In her resignation, she cited her own personal health (she was in remission from cancer) and the continued stress from the COVID-related political fights; something made worse by the vicious conspiracies from the right-wing. Her decision was understandable, but it also led to questions about the timing. Cox filing just months earlier, and quickly raising money from individuals tied to Rasmussen, led to a strong understanding Rasmussen was also angling to ensure Cox would succeed her. The timing of the resignation meant any challenger to Cox, who was already sitting on $40,000, would have just a few weeks to qualify in June and build up a campaign for an August primary.

The 2022 Special Election & “Don’t Say Gay”

The timing made Cox the instant frontrunner for the seat, and it quikcly seemed she’d nearly walk into the post. With just a few days left for qualifying in June, the only candidates running were Cox and newcomer Susan Hodges. Both were Republicans, and Hodges was an avowed right-wing activist. Both women had ties with “Moms for Liberty”, the anti-gay, right-wing group that exists to terrify parents that their kids are being “turned gay or trans” or whatever lunacy they come up with. Then, with little time left to qualify, Alex Stemle decided to jump into the contest; setting up a 3-way race. Stemle was still a moderate, likely even right-of-center, but quickly became the favorite of Democratic and progressive interests.

This election, which would be held in August of 2022, came as the fight over “Don’t Say Gay” was at its height in Florida. I’ve discussed this issue quiet a bit, so won’t re-hash here. But the long story short is the DeSantis administration, aiming to use anti-LGBT rhetoric to raise his Presidential profile, pushed legislation that aimed to stop any talk of sexual orientation in schools. The backers flat out lied that this was about teaching about not teaching “sex” and would only apply to young kids and not be part of High School. Well the litany of teachers fired for even revealing they were in a same-sex marriage, or a litany of book-bans for even referencing gay people exist proved that this legislation was nothing but a German Reich-style law aimed to “other” a group. I have documented countless problems in this issue.

—Article: A detailed Look at Florida’s don’t say gay law—

It was amid this environment that the School Board contest took place. Both Cox and Hodges took positions that even something like a Pride Flag should be banned from schools. Stemle agreed with this position, while trying to also clarify he opposed any political or social statements in schools. He also said he’d oppose a Trump flag or a BLM flag in schools - and yes that comparison is very poor form. But Stemle, who’s base was in the conservative eastern communities, was clearly trying to thread a needle as the “most acceptable” candidate for liberals while also not alienating conservatives.

Cox, meanwhile, had donated to Donald Trump in 2020 and had questioned the results of the 2020 election; making her a non-starter for Democratic leaders. Even with that fact, Cox did not try to openly campaign as a right-wing activist; something Hodges did. Cox no doubt realized that going all-in on right-wing talking points would risk alienating moderate suburbanites.

Thanks to the early start in fundraising, Cox easily led the pack with over $60,000. Stemle raised around $25,000; while Hodges raised under $3,000. It was largely seen as a contest between Cox and Stemle. When the results came in for August, despite the massive financial advantage of Cox, it was Alex Stemle that came in first with 46% of the vote. He and Cox, who secured 42%, would wind up in a runoff for November. Hodges was far back with just 11%.

Stemle was strongest in the eastern ends of the district, the Deer Lake area he represented in the school district. Cox, meanwhile, was strong in the west, which is a much more Democratic area; as well as the Republican-heavy communities in the east that sat just below Ox Bottom. The results did not match a clear partisan line; reflecting that even as candidates debated some high-profile issues, most voters were not paying that close attention or did not much care.

I wrote about this here, but the Leon County and Tallahassee voters were being heavily inundated with a nasty set of campaigns for city and county commission. This school board race, with far less money than the hundreds of thousands being spent in other contests, was overlooked. Stemle benefitted from regional bases and a previous campaign. Cox, meanwhile, used her money to paint herself as Rasmussen’s heir.

The Quiet Runoff

The runoff was held in the November election. In that runoff, Stemle suffered from major financial disadvantage. Cox raised another $55,000 while Stemle only was able to bring in another $10,000. Democratic groups support Stemle, but did not put major money or effort into aiding him. Cox had the money and was backed by Ron DeSantis’ PAC that aimed to elect School Board members.

The day of the election, Ron DeSantis managed to flip the school board district, winning it narrowly over Charlie Crist.

This win came amid the historic democratic turnout issues that I discussed in this article. Democratic turnout was six points lower in the district than Republican, versus the 2% gap from 2020; leading to a more republican electorate than normally seen. While DeSantis won the seat, other Republican candidates, from State Senator Corey Simon to Congressman Neil Dunn, narrowly lost it.

That same day, Cox won the runoff with 54% of the vote. While its easy to say all of Hodges votes just went to Cox, its worth remembering turnout jumped from 17,000 in August to 30,000 in November. Stemle suffered from a lack of funds to target newer voters showing up. In the end, he did best around the Deer Lake areas he represented. The results map looks very different from the Governor results.

The results showed that despite the party structures picking sides in the race, the lack of full voter tuning into these issues led to results not matching the governor race or broad party allegiances. Cox’s results vs DeSantis show how much Stemle had a base in the Deer Lake east while Cox was able to outperform in the areas Rasmussen had been strongest in for the west.

With this, Cox would serve two years for the remainder of Rasussen’’s term. Voters would have another say in the district in 2024.

The 2024 Race Takes Shape

In March of 2024, Cox got her one challenger for this cycle; a serious candidate. Jeremy Rogers, a 17 year firefighter and the founder of non-profit Tallahassee Adventure Club. The organization has a preschool and summer camp, Killearn Sunshine Academy, which Rogers operates. Rogers, a registered Democrat, is endorsed by the local and state party and has gone after Cox over the GOP money funding her campaign. Rogers has lately been endorsed by the Leon County Teachers Association.

Cox, meanwhile, has recently touted the endorsement of Ron DeSantis, and took flack recently for going to a DeSantis PAC event. While Cox would at times claim to be the true moderate, her statement after Rogers was endorsed by Equality Florida, the state’s largest LGBT group, says a great deal.

Equality Florida has for a long time been an influence in many school districts around the state pushing for LGBTQ rights in our schools and are not supportive of the Parental Rights in Education legislation

Read this statement closely - she frames the push for LGBTQ rights as a bad thing because they don’t support the right-wing legislation that has been weaponized not only against LGBT students but LGBT parents. Don’t forget the Florida Don’t Say Gay law has also led to attacks on LGBT parents of school children. This has NEVER been about parental rights.

Cox would claim Rogers was injecting partisanship into the race, but it was then pointed out she’d been touting her DeSantis endorsement in targeted advertising.

Leon Republicans Begin Gay-Bashing

The simmering divides between Cox and Rogers exploded in just the last few days, however. On July 21st, when Jeremy Rogers posed for his endorsement by Equality Florida, Evan Power, the Florida Republican Chairman, attacked the post and claimed Equality FL wanted to “sexually indoctrinate” kids.

This disgusting, and of course untrue, GOP attacking point, led to condemnation by Tallahassee commissioner Jeremy Matlow.

Rogers and his school-age daughter are in the endorsement photo, and Rogers expressed his deep hurt and anger at the tweets from Power.

“My daughter and I were just exploited for political gain by a national political figure Evan Power,”

Cox, meanwhile, offered no comment on the post.

Since then, Evan, who is also the Chairman of the Leon County Republican Party, has doubled down, constantly attacking Rogers as an extension of attacking LGBT people.

Now, Evan is someone I’ve written about a few times here. He’s a political fixture in this town and has been for a long time. Two previous times I wrote about him can be seen here and here. I like to poke fun at Evan for the time he lost a bid for Leon Soil and Water Board back in 2012; which I discuss in both articles. But the reality is, I am deeply offended that Evan of all people can claim any moral high ground.

This is Personal

First off, as I discuss in my article on “Don’t Say Gay” - the fear mongering of “sexual indoctrination” or “mutilations” are lies made up by the far-right to create a new “enemy” to campaign on. I am 38, and hence grew up as a LGBT teenager amid the Bush efforts to ban same-sex marriage in the early 2000s. The mental toll these attacks takes are not discussed nearly enough. I suffered plenty, I still carry many scars from that time. LGBT youth now are still subject to attack and ostrization, all thanks to the craven tactics of operatives like Evan; a man who was best known for getting drunk with lobbyists in downtown Tallahassee. A man who’s plan to become GOP Chairman years ago was derailed by a 2018 DUI arrest.

That’s right, in 2018, Evan Power was arrested for driving under the influence. He had struck a parked car and was subsequently booked. He eventually plead down the charges and got community service. He will tell you today that he was tired, but the cop footage shows him clearly drunk and cops commenting that he “reeked.” He refused to take a breathalyzer.

I have a serious question for everyone reading this. On average, 14,000 people are killed a year in drunk-driving related accidents. This includes kids, and its worth noting Evan’s crash was not at 2am; but 6pm!!! What is the real threat to your kids, a teacher revealing that gay people exist, or Evan running them over.

In fact, the only reason Evan Power is GOP Chairman now, having lost a bid last year, is because the man who beat him, Christian Ziegler, was ousted as Chair after it was revealed he and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, a Sarasota School Board member, were swingers that engaged in 3-ways. The personal scandal blew up when Christian was then accused of rape by one of the women he and Bridget had been hooking up with; though charges were never filed. Bridget has faced calls to step down from the school board; with her hypocrisy being a major talking point. She has been a co-founder of Moms for Liberty and a backer of the “don’t say gay” legislation. The latest details revealed she and Christian would prowl looking for women for Christian to sleep with.

So let me get this straight, a party of sexual degenerates and drunk drivers is here to tell the public that LGBT folks are the danger? We are the threat? They are here to bad mouth a fire-fighter running for school board? Give me a damn break.

A Partisan Fight Hurts Cox

The exploding tension of the last few weeks will likely not dissipate before the election itself. Cox still benefits from a financial advantage, raising $70,000 vs Rogers’ $40,000. However, Rogers likely benefits from the right-win attacks; as this will NOT be an electorate that leans Republican. All voter models for the August primary point to more Democrats than Republicans casting ballot; often by several thousand. Cox needs to have crossover support to win. As the maps and details on the 2022 race showed, the results did not follow strict partisan lines. Had Stemle been able to truly be the “Democratic” candidate, he’d have won. The same is true for Rogers.

For Cox, the official non-partisan nature of the race is key for her victory. If this was a D v R partisan ballot, she’d almost surely lose the race. It is ironic that this November, Florida voters will cast ballots for Amendment 1, a measure that would make all School Board races partisan. The measure has been pushed by Republicans; aiming to help them flip several seats they don’t hold in more conservative areas. Such a measure would surely doom Cox in a 2028 re-election if she manages to win this time.

Cox made it onto the school board thanks to last minute resignations, non-partisan ballots, and a lack of focus on school board races. Now, her allies in the GOP have perfectly highlighted the side she is on. They have done her no favors with their antics. Of course, her silence on those antics speaks volumes about where she really stands.