Sarasota School Board Flips to Liberal Majority After Years of Conservative Control

The next Sarasota County School Board will have a liberal-leaning majority after voters rejected the conservative policies and culture-war battles that had dominated the board for years. Megan Tennimon and Beth Mayberry, the more progressive candidates in their races, won their seats by more than 10 percentage points over Republican-endorsed opponents, joining board members Tom Edwards and Liz Barker to give progressives commanding control of the five-member board for at least the next two years.

The third race, for the District 1 seat, is headed to a runoff between Republican-endorsed Heidi Brandt and Democrat-backed Jimmy Glover, after conservative candidate Teresa DeWitt split the right-leaning vote. The winning candidates campaigned on ending years of clashes over book removals, LGBTQ+ inclusion and immigration enforcement, and pledged to push back against state policies that have squeezed the district's budget, against a backdrop of eliminated positions and shrinking funding this school year.

Student activists who had organized against the board's policies celebrated the results at a Sarasota Democrats watch party, with newly elected board member Megan Tennimon telling supporters the win showed what young people can accomplish through civic engagement.