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Florida Education Association largely endorses Democrats in 2022 voter toolkit



The Florida Education Association (FEA) published its 2022 voter toolkit, endorsing a series of mostly Democrat candidates, as well as opining on Supreme Court Justice retentions and constitutional amendments.

Having publicly endorsed Democrat gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist in May, the organization reiterates its pledge and highlights Crist’s educational platform which includes increasing average teacher salaries and strengthening the teacher recruitment pipeline.

“Throughout his political career, Crist has been a strong supporter of Florida’s students and public schools. As governor, he stood up to defend teachers from destructive legislation affecting their salaries, evaluations, and job security,” says the group. “After he is elected as governor this fall, Crist pledges to fully fund public schools to ensure that all students have the resources they need to succeed.”

The union also weighed in on House and Senate races, endorsing mostly Democrats across the state. Just five Republicans — Ed Hooper and Joe Gruters for the Senate and Fred Hawkins, Daniel Perez, and Juan Ferenandez-Barquin for the House — were given a seal of approval.

While failing to explain why candidates were endorsed, a commonality among a majority of those backed by the FEA is a history of working with the group to craft policy language and regulations.

In a published statement, FEA President Andrew Spar negates the suggestion that the group solely endorses Democrats.

“Public education has always been and must always be a non-partisan issue,’ said Spar. “What we must do is ask all candidates where they stand on good policy for Florida’s public schools and our professions. We should ask them, “What are you doing to address the low pay for teachers and staff?” “What are you going to do about the massive teacher and staff shortages?” “What are you doing to address the impacts of Covid on student learning?”

Of the five Supreme Court Justices appearing on the ballot, FEA endorses just one: Justice Jorge Labarga. Claiming that the four remaining justices — Charles Canady, John Couriel, Jamie Grosshans, and Ricky Polston — are “out of touch” with FEA’s core values, it recommends its member vote no on retaining the foursome.

As for Constitutional amendments, FEA votes yes to just Amendment 2, which sets out to abolish the Constitution Revision Commission. Amendments 1 and 3, which both alter property tax regulations were given a ‘no position’ status.

The FEA is a statewide federation of teacher and education workers’ labor unions in the US state of Florida. With 145,000 members, it is the largest labor union in the state.

According to its own statistics, 90 percent of the union’s voters cast ballots on election days, with a majority of that group adhering to FEA voter toolkits.

FEA School Board Endorsements 

BrevardErin Dunne (District 2)
BrowardRodney Velez (District 1), Jeff Holness (District 5), Steve Julian (District 6), Donna Korn (District 8)
CollierJoy Westberry (District 1), Jen Mitchell (District 3), Roy Terry (District 5)
FlaglerCourtney VandeBunte (District 2)
HernandoKay Hatch (District 1), Susan Duval (District 5)
Indian RiverCindy Gibbs (District 2)
LakeTyler Brandeburg (District 2)
LeeKathy Fanny (District 1), Debra Jordan (District 4)
LeonAlexander Stemle (District 4)
ManateeHarold Byrd (District 2)
NassauShannon Hogue (District 1), Curtis Gaus (District 3)
OrangeHeather Ashby (District 2), Michael Daniels (District 3)
OsceolaWill Fonseca (District 4)
PascoJames Washington (District 1)
Palm BeachMarcia Andrews (District 6), Edwin Ferguson (District 7)
PinellasDr. Keesha Benson (District 3), Brian Martin (District 6)
PolkLisa Miller (District 7)
SeminoleAutumn Garick (District 5)
SeminoleLauren Abell (District 3)

 

 

FEA Senate Endorsements 

SD 3Loranne AusleyD
SD 5Tracie DavisD
SD 10Joy Goff-MarcilD
SD 14Janet CruzD
SD 16Darrl RousonD
SD 17Linda StewartD
SD 18Eunic OrtizD
SD 21Ed HooperR
SD 22Joe GrutersR
SD 24Bobby Powell Jr.D
SD 25Victor Torres Jr.D
SD 26Lori BermanD
SD 30Tina PolskyD
SD 32Rosalind OsgoodD
SD 34Shevrin JonesD
SD 35Lauren BookD
SD 37Jason PizzoD
SD 38Janelle PerezD

 

 

FEA House Endorsements

HD 9Allison TantD
HD 13Angie NixonD
HD 21Yvonne HinsonD
HD 22Brandon PetersD
HD 35Fred HawkinsD
HD 37Carlos G. SmithD
HD 38Sarah HenryD
HD 39Tiffany HughesD
HD 40LaVon Bracy DavisD
HD 41Bruce AntoneD
HD 42Anna V. EskamaniD
HD 43Johanna LopezD
HD 44Jennifer HarrisD
HD 45Allie BraswellD
HD 46Kristen ArringtonD
HD 60Lindsay CrossD
HD 62Michele RaynerD
HD 64Susan ValdesD
HD 65Jen McDonaldD
HD 67Fentrice DriskellD
HD 69Andrew LearnedD
HD 88Jervonte EdmondsD
HD 89David SilversD
HD 90Jospeh CaselloD
HD 91Andy ThomsonD
HD 92Kelly SkidmoreD
HD 95Christine HunschofskyD
HD 96Dan DaleyD
HD 98Patricia Hawkins-WilliamsD
HD 99Daryl CampbellD
HD 100Linda Thompson GonzalezD
HD 101Hillary CasselD
HD 102Michael GottliebD
HD 103Robin BartlemanD
HD 104Felicia RobinsonD
HD 105Marie WoodsonD
HD 106Jordan LeonardD
HD 107Christopher BenjaminD
HD 108Dottie JosephD
HD 109Ashly GanttD
HD 113Alessandro “A.J.” D’amicoD
HD 116Daniel PerezR
HD 117Kevin ChamblissD
HD 118Juan Ferenandez-BarquinR