By William Mattox
DeSantis owes his win to unexpected support from minority women.
Believe it or not, Republican Ron DeSantis owes his
victory in the Florida gubernatorial election to about 100,000 African-American
women who unexpectedly chose him over the black Democratic candidate, Andrew
Gillum.
Of the roughly 650,000 black women who voted in Florida,
18% chose Mr. DeSantis, according to CNN’s exit poll of 3,108 voters.
This
exceeded their support for GOP U.S. Senate candidate Rick Scott (9%), Mr.
DeSantis’s performance among black men (8%) and the GOP’s national average
among black women (7%).
To be sure, 18% of the black female vote in Florida is
equal to less than 2% of the total electorate. But in an election decided by
fewer than 40,000 votes, these 100,000 black women proved decisive.
Their
apparent ticket splitting helps to explain why the Florida governor’s race
wasn’t as close as the Florida Senate race, though Mr. Gillum was widely
expected to carry Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson to victory on his coattails.
What explains Mr. DeSantis’ surprising support from
African-American women? Two words: school choice.
More than 100,000 low-income students in Florida
participate in the Step Up For Students program, which grants tax-credit funded
scholarships to attend private schools. Even more students are currently
enrolled in the state’s 650 charter schools.
Most Step Up students are minorities whose mothers are
registered Democrats. Yet many of these “school-choice moms” vote for
gubernatorial candidates committed to protecting their ability to choose where
their child goes to school.
Four years ago, Gov. Scott narrowly won re-election
thanks to a spike in support from school-choice moms. In 2016 more than 10,000
scholarship recipients joined Martin Luther King III in Tallahassee to protest
a lawsuit filed by the teachers union in America’s largest-ever school choice
rally.
Regrettably, Mr. Gillum’s campaign chose to ignore signs
that many minority voters view school choice as ‘’the civil rights issue of our
time,” to quote Condoleezza Rice. Mr. Gillum figured his charm and potential to
become the state’s first black governor would win over African-American voters.
But many school-choice moms were not convinced. A
social-media campaign by the Florida Federation for Children reminded voters of
Mr. Gillum’s strong opposition to school choice. The issue also helped solidify
Mr. DeSantis’s support among Latinos at an impressive 44%.
The unexpected outcome of the Florida governor’s race
should encourage Republicans nationwide to pitch their education agenda to
minority voters. It should also prompt Democrats to rethink their blind
allegiance to teachers unions.
Most of all, Florida’s surprising outcome ought to
encourage every American—especially in these hyperpolarized times—to support
policies that bring together strange bedfellows to solve serious problems.
Mr. Mattox is director of the Marshall Center
for Educational Options at the James Madison Institute. He served on the
Tallahassee Civil Rights Landmark Committee.
