Moms for Liberty learned the hard way this Election Day that hatred and extremism don’t get votes. The far-right political organization backed several candidates running for school board seats, and faced a truly humiliating defeat as the election results rolled in.
Moms for Liberty claims to be a “grassroots” conservative organization comprised of parents standing up for their “parental rights” to protect their children. In reality, Moms for Liberty is very organized and well-funded and has established itself as an extremist hate group determined to control the public education system, ban books, and prevent racial or LGBTQ+ topics from being discussed in schools. MFL is behind the unprecedented rise in books bans that has spread across the United States in recent years and is fighting to dictate school curriculums across the country. Essentially, the group seeks to police everything children read and learn about in school to prevent them from learning about or acknowledging the existence of the LGBTQ+ community, minorities, racism, and historically marginalized groups.
Although MFL has benefited from the support of the Republican party and right-wing politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, there’s evidence that most parents disagree with the group’s extremism. For example, book banning is not widely supported in the United States—not even among Republicans. Studies have found that it’s literally just a handful of people who are responsible for the vast majority of book challenges in the entire country. Between extreme book banning, anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, and the desire to prevent students from even learning U.S. history, Moms for Liberty does not come remotely close to representing the average parent.
So it’s quite humorous that this hateful group of outliers really thought they’d gain a foothold in school boards nationwide.
Moms for Liberty loses big time on Election Day
Moms for Liberty had to learn the hard way that its hatred and extremism won’t do it any favors. The group had endorsed several candidates for school board positions across the United States. On Election Day, nearly every single one of these candidates lost their races, proving that being endorsed by a hate group isn’t a good campaign strategy.
In all, MFL endorsed candidates in six states and lost in five of them. In Pennsylvania, where MFL has endorsed dozens of candidates in the past and claimed to hold the majority in several school districts across the state, the organization faced its most embarrassing loss. In Central Bucks and Pennridge, both elections were swept by Democrats, who won five seats per district, while all the candidates Moms for Liberty had “recommended” lost. The one Pennsylvania candidate the group officially endorsed, Christopher Bressi, lost to a Democrat for the Downingtown Area School District. Meanwhile, in Loudoun County, Virginia, another three candidates endorsed by the group lost their races.
In school districts across Iowa, including Linn-Mar, Des Moines, and Mount Vernon, MFL candidates also faced resounding losses. Of the 13 candidates the group endorsed in Iowa, 12 lost their races. Similarly, the group’s candidates in North Carolina and Minnesota districts also lost.
Each loss the group experienced resulted in a victory for LGBTQ+ and students of color. It also meant a loss for hatred, bigotry, racism, transphobia, and homophobia. This hate group is desperately trying to infiltrate and poison the public education system, which is why it’s so important that voters stand up and refuse to let MFL gain a foothold. It’s also very pleasant to think of MFL’s reaction to the whole country illustrating so plainly that it wants nothing to do with these hateful extremists.
Not all of the Election Day results were so positive, but it’s worth celebrating that teachers and students won in every single district that Moms of Liberty lost.
(featured image: Michael M. Santiago, Getty Images)
