Gov. Ron DeSantis starts school board endorsements, including Fred Lowry in Volusia

Gov. Ron DeSantis, as promised, has begun weighing in on local school board races, endorsing 10 candidates including Fred Lowry in Volusia County School Board District 5.

The announcement came Monday and was not a surprise to Lowry's opponent in the race, incumbent School Board Chair Ruben Colón, who said it was "simply political in nature."

Lowry, a Volusia County councilman and pastor with Cross Walk Church of Deltona, has landed a string of Republican endorsements, despite some calls for his resignation last year after videos surfaced of sermons he had given advancing conspiracy theories about the trafficking of children, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

Curriculum Transparency: DeSantis signs bill that term limits school board members, gives parents more say in classroom textbooks

'We Did Not Have A Pandemic, Folks': Volusia County Councilman Fred Lowry urged to resign

Volusia Councilman Fred Lowry: 'I will not be resigning' over QAnon controversy

Lowry, who didn't return a call seeking comment Tuesday, sounded over the moon in a Facebook message that mentioned his wife.

"What an AMAZING START to another big Campaign week with the ENDORSEMENT of our Great Governor RON DESANTIS! Vikki and I are so grateful and excited to have the Support of America's Governor!" Lowry wrote.

DeSantis suggested in a March 25 news conference in Daytona Beach that he would be getting involved in school board races — a move that is unusual for governors, but in keeping with a 2022 legislative agenda that included several education initiatives, including increasing teachers' pay, tightening standards on what can and can't be taught about racism and sexual orientation and raising transparency requirements for school districts in adopting textbooks.

Those moves followed DeSantis' leading role in the reopening of schools in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic had begun. Florida bucked national trends on school closures and requiring students to wear masks.

In the Daytona Beach appearance, DeSantis said many parents had become frustrated with school board members who didn't reflect what their communities wanted or positions they took in previous campaigns.

"You run saying you're going to do certain things, acting like you're going to represent the values of the community, then you get in, you're kowtowing to special interests and you're not acting in accordance with what you said you would do," DeSantis said. "And so those are the folks that are going to be very vulnerable in the elections coming up.

"I don't know that I've ever got involved in school board races before, but we'll be involved this year," he said.

Critical race theory: What is it and how did it become a political dividing line?

Fighting 'wokeness': In video, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasts 'wokeness,' vows role in school board races

What does it mean to be 'woke' and why does Florida Governor Ron DeSantis want to stop it?

DeSantis' political website, rondesantis.com, last week announced a questionnaire for school board candidates.

It asks a mix of yes/no questions as well as others seeking more in-depth answers.

Some of the questions include:

• How will you ensure your school district is closing student achievement gaps and meeting progress monitoring goals to guarantee students are reaching their highest potential?

• What should your school district do to better prepare students as citizens?

• How will you protect a parent’s right to publicly disagree with their school board? Does CRT (critical race theory) belong in K-12 public education classrooms in Florida?

• Do you support the Governor’s efforts to require students to learn about the horrors of communism?

Although school board races in Volusia County are non-partisan, party politics will play a role in who gets elected. The incumbent member representing District 5, covering parts of southwest Volusia including Deltona, is Colón, a registered Democrat, while Lowry is a Republican.

Colón said DeSantis' support for Lowry "is not based on the good things that are happening in the (Volusia) district, such as an improved graduation rate and expanded vocational programs.

"It's unfortunate (DeSantis) has chosen to weigh in on local races," Colón said. "Government is best closest to the people. ... All of the things on his agenda have been accomplished in my district."

Colón said he has been posting on Facebook "endorsements that matter," messages of support for his campaign from local residents, parents and teachers.

DeSantis is not the only elected Republican official to weigh in on the District 5 race. State Reps. Paul Renner and Tom Leek and U.S. Rep. Byron Daniels of Naples, also have endorsed Lowry.

Renner, the House Speaker designate, issued a statement: "Fred Lowry has dedicated his life to serve others. He’s also a leader who knows our schools need innovative thinking to produce high-quality results, and he’ll put our parents and students above the bureaucrats and red tape. Fred Lowry is exactly the voice we need on the Volusia School Board."

Last year, Lowry rejected calls for his resignation from the County Council following the revelation of sermons posted online while he was pastor of Deltona Lakes Baptist Church. In one, he recited the debunked QAnon conspiracy linking the trafficking of children to organ harvesting and extracting the chemical adrenochrome from their blood for its hallucinatory and anti-aging properties.

"This is supposed to be rampant I hear in Hollywood and among the elite. I don’t know if it’s true, but where there’s smoke," Lowry said.

Other than an email in which he said he would not be resigning, Lowry has not responded to requests from The News-Journal to explain the positions he took in the church videos.

Candidates exit race

The Volusia County School Board District 3 race has gone from five candidates to three in a matter of days.

One candidate who had announced a run, Emmanuel Swift, failed to qualify before Friday's deadline when it was discovered that his Port Orange home — which previously had been in District 3 — was now in District 2 following redistricting.

In a statement Swift texted The News-Journal, he vowed to continue to support Volusia County Schools and thanked his supporters and contributors. "After all the necessary political expenses are satisfied, the remaining balance will be donated to an educational foundation to support post-secondary education opportunities," the statement reads.

Another who did qualify, Wendy Weisheimer, then dropped out. She has not returned calls seeking comment and has not posted about her exit on a Facebook campaign page.

That leaves three candidates for the seat representing southeast Volusia County: Jessie Thompson, Kim Short and Justin Kennedy.

Moms for Liberty weighs in

Short claimed an endorsement from Moms for Liberty, an organization of growing influence in the wake of debates over school openings and required masks.

The Volusia County chapter released a statement to The News-Journal explaining that its members have been attending school board meetings since Oct. 27, 2020, when Volusia schools required masks for students, prior to state law making them optional.

Moms for Liberty Volusia hosted a candidates' forum for District 3 on June 2, after which the group settled on its endorsement of Short, lauding her "conservative values" and regular attendance of board meetings over the past decade.

"She was fighting for parents’ rights and on behalf of teachers years before she decided to run for school board," the statement reads. "She has served on PTA and DAC as a leader and volunteers at schools as a parent volunteer, and now is a (much needed) substitute teacher regularly."

Moms for Liberty Volusia is actively lobbying DeSantis to weigh in on the District 3 race and support Short.

"Other District 3 candidates have not attended school board meetings or have only come on occasion to make an appearance. Moms for Liberty Volusia cannot put faith in a candidate that can’t be bothered to show up for a seat they are running for. We hope that Gov. DeSantis ... will also take school board meeting attendance into consideration and remember that those candidates with the biggest contributions are not necessarily the best candidates to actually do the tough job at hand to fight for the students, staff, parents, and community."

More school board forums

School board candidates have been invited to a forum hosted by the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The forum will be at the Bethune-Cookman University Center for Civic Engagement.

Next week, Moms for Liberty is hosting two more school board candidate forums. District 1 will be from 6 to 8 p.m. June 27 at the Sanborn Center in DeLand. District 5 is set for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 30 at The Center at Deltona.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to The Daytona Beach News-Journal using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ron DeSantis joins GOP chorus endorsing Lowry for Volusia School Board