Black school choice moms gave DeSantis his margin of victory in Florida

Power Line:

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William Mattox makes an observation that may serve a contrary point in the Wall Street Journal column “‘School-choice moms’ tipped the Florida governor’s race.” Coincidentally, it also derives from a statewide Florida election. Mattox attributes the victory of Ron DeSantis over Andrew Gillum to well-informed black female voters who opted for DeSantis because of his support of Florida’s Step Up For Students school-choice program. He writes:

Believe it or not, Republican Ron DeSantis owes his victory in the Florida gubernatorial election to about 100,000 African-American women who unexpectedly chose him over the black Democratic candidate, Andrew Gillum.

Of the roughly 650,000 black women who voted in Florida, 18% chose Mr. DeSantis, according to CNN’s exit poll of 3,108 voters. This exceeded their support for GOP U.S. Senate candidate Rick Scott (9%), Mr. DeSantis’s performance among black men (8%) and the GOP’s national average among black women (7%).

To be sure, 18% of the black female vote in Florida is equal to less than 2% of the total electorate. But in an election decided by fewer than 40,000 votes, these 100,000 black women proved decisive. Their apparent ticket splitting helps to explain why the Florida governor’s race wasn’t as close as the Florida Senate race, though Mr. Gillum was widely expected to carry Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson to victory on his coattails.

What explains Mr. DeSantis’ surprising support from African-American women? Two words: school choice.

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These moms are smart.  They recognize that the Democrats are more interested in backing the teacher's union than providing an educational choice for their children.  It may require more Democrat losses before that party starts looking after the welfare of the children and their education than entrenched unions who have failed those children.