by Bronson Winslow
The American Principles Project (APP), a national pro-parents rights organization that directly engages in campaigns and elections, has entered the Polk County, Florida school board election by providing four local candidates with $40,000 for ad campaigns.
The APP’s initial involvement followed a commercial which targeted candidates who support drag queens in K-12 schools. The ad aimed to bring awareness to the “indoctrination” of students by Democrats pushing trans-ideology and anti-American critical race theory in Florida, Politico reported.
APP spokesman Paul Dupont told the Daily Caller News Foundation APP supported the “Parents Caucus” slate of candidates in the Polk County, Florida, school board elections. Those candidates included Terry Clark, Rick Nolte, Justin Sharpless and Jill Sessions, Dupont said.
The APP spent just over $40,000 to run digital ads and send out text messages ahead of the election, said Dupont. This was a larger part of the APP’s efforts to “elevate education issues such as parental rights and sexually explicit content in schools in this year’s midterms.”
“If you don’t have people at the local level who are cutting this out at schools, you’re not going to get that out,” said APP president Terry Schilling, according to Politico. The four school board candidates endorsed by the APP were described as champions of parental rights, and their success or failure will serve as a “test case” for Schillings’ group, reported Politico.
Moms have a lot of questions. You want to get elected again? Start answering questions. #parentalrights https://t.co/GGPzNZ21vJ
— Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty) September 16, 2022
This is not the first time a national organization has focused on school board elections. The 1776 Project PAC endorsed upwards of 100 candidates last year. Started by Ryan Girdusky, the PAC sought to “reform our public education system by promoting patriotism and pride in American history,” the PAC’s website says.
The 1776 Project spent nearly $400,000 in mailings, text messages and other election efforts in Florida, Girdusky told Politico. “I was trying to target Republicans that would normally vote in the midterm, but not necessarily in primary, and encourage them to vote for conservative school board members,” he said about the PAC’s efforts in Florida.
The 1776 Project PAC did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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Bronson Winslow is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Polk County Public Schools” by Polk County Public Schools.
