After the House passed the idea last month, the Senate could be ready to take up a proposal aimed at holding partisan school board elections in Florida.
The Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday approved the proposal (SJR 94), positioning it to go to the full Senate. Historically, school-board candidates ran with partisan labels, but voters in 1998 passed a constitutional amendment to shift to non-partisan races.
The proposal would ask voters in 2024 to approve moving back to partisan elections. The change would need voter approval because it would amend the Constitution.
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Senate sponsor Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican who is a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said holding partisan elections would provide more “transparency” for voters because parties are already involved in school-board races.
“All these races are partisan now,” Gruters said. The Republican-controlled House on March 31 voted 79-34 along straight party lines to approve its identical version of the proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 31).
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