Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suffered a string of defeats in Tuesday’s school board races.

In Pinellas County, school board chair Laura Hine and another incumbent, Eileen Long, held off challengers backed by DeSantis who had sought to flip the board to a conservative majority, according to preliminary results.

In another race for an open seat on the Pinellas board, DeSantis-backed candidate Stacy Geier is set to face Katie Blaxberg in a November runoff after no candidate cleared 50 percent of the vote.

In Sarasota County, Liz Barker defeated Karen Rose, who was endorsed by DeSantis.

And in Hillsborough County, incumbents Nadia Combs and Jessica Vaughn held onto their seats, fending off DeSantis-endorsed challengers Myosha Powell and Layla Collins.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

DeSantis
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Florida. DeSantis has saw his nominations suffer a series of defeats in school board races.

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