Republicans see signs of midterm 'red wave' in SF school board recall: 'They've ignored parents'

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Leo Terrell on ‘woke’ school board facing recall in San Francisco: The kids have been damaged

Fox News contributor and schoolteacher Leo Terrell on parents pushing to recall woke school board members.

Several prominent Republican lawmakers and conservative voices say they see the recent recall election in San Francisco as a precursor to massive GOP gains in Congress.

House Education and Labor Committee ranking member Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital Wednesday that there is "a lot of blood in the political waters, and Democrats are no longer running for the hills – they’re sprinting."

SAN FRANCISCO RECALLS 3 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS: ‘A CLEAR MESSAGE’

School mask mandates have become a major political issue across the country.  (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

"You don’t need to try and read the tea leaves to know what’s happening across the country; it’s abundantly clear to everyone," Foxx said. "Democrats are in trouble politically because they’ve ignored parents. The San Francisco school board recall election is another loss for Democrats. And it certainly won’t be the only one we hear about in the coming days, weeks and months.

"A red wave is coming, and it will be the coup de grace to the entire Democrat agenda," Foxx added.

"Republicans are committed to standing up for parents and students," House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York told Fox News Digital Wednesday. "This is a winning message that resonates with families across the country, even in far left San Francisco.

House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"The recall of three members of the San Francisco school board, who have put their radical leftist priorities over prioritizing students, should serve as a warning that families have had enough of far left control over classrooms."

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital in an email statement that the recall election is the latest instance of parents pushing back on the progressive left.

"From Northeast Indiana to Nancy Pelosi's backyard in San Francisco, we are seeing parents across the nation reject the radical left's support of school closures and wokeness in the classroom," Banks, a House Education and Labor Committee member alongside Stefanik, said on Wednesday.

"This should be a major wake-up call for Democrats, but it won't be," Banks added. "Just as I wrote in a memo to my colleagues following Glenn Youngkin's impressive victory last fall, Republicans have an obligation to step up and be a voice of reason for frustrated parents of all political backgrounds."

Banks released a memo last year, addressing the GOP’s opportunity to lean into the culture wars amid conversations about critical race theory.

"Lean into the culture war. Because the backlash against critical race theory is real," Banks wrote. "We are beginning to see an organic movement from parents across the country in places like Loudon County, Virginia; Pelham, New York; South Lake, Texas; and Bloomington, Illinois, who are fed up with the lessons their kids are being taught. As House conservatives, we should be sending a signal to these concerned parents: We have your back."

Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., Foxx's fellow member of the House Education and Labor Committee, told Fox News Digital that everywhere "from Virginia to San Francisco, parents have clearly sent the message that they want a seat at the table when it comes to their child’s education.

"As Republicans, we’re fighting to ensure that families are never pushed out of the learning process, because at the end of the day, these are our children, not the government’s," Letlow added.

Julia Letlow  (AP Photo/Brett Duke, File)

"Far left school boards are robbing America’s children of a quality education," Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett told Fox News Digital. "Woke hysteria in schools in San Francisco and across the country needs to end. It’s time parents take back their schools."

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who also sits on the House Education and Labor Committee, told Fox News Digital that "fed-up parents kicked off the 2022 election cycle" in San Francisco "by firing school board members who prioritized school closures, teachers’ unions, and their own political agendas over educating children."

"I expect voters nationwide to make a similar judgment in November against politicians who have fought to keep schools closed and children masked," Comer continued.

Republican political organizations also weighed in on the red wave rumblings following the San Francisco recall election with Republican National Committee (RNC) spokesman Nathan Brand saying from "Virginia to San Francisco, parents are making their voices heard."

"Democrats are losing as they put special interests, woke garbage, school closures and forced masking ahead of students," Brand continued. "Republicans know parents’ voices matter in their children’s education."

"Last night’s decisive results in the San Francisco school board election prove that Asian American families reject the radical Democrat agenda of school closures, forced masking and renaming schools to appease woke activists," Nainoa Johsens, RNC Director of Asian Pacific American Media, said in a statement.

"Just like in Virginia’s gubernatorial election, Asian parents in San Francisco stood up to Democrat politicians who put radical ideology and scoring political points ahead of their kids. Even in deep blue San Francisco, Democrats are proving they are out of touch."

Brand also pointed to RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel’s recent tweet saying the recall election results "prove parents reject the Democrat agenda of school closures, forced masking, and renaming schools to appease far-left activists."

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Berg warned Democrats that the "midterms are coming" and that "Democrats have a choice: retire or lose."

The red wave predictions come after three San Francisco school board members were recalled from their posts.

Jonathan Butcher, the Heritage Foundation's Will Skillman Fellow in Education, told Fox News Digital that the recall is part of a "larger national trend."

"San Francisco’s school board has made a number of radical decisions, including the erasure of Abraham Lincoln from the name of a school. Voters spoke loud and clear that this does not represent their community," Butcher said. "This recall is part of a national trend. Last year, by June, concerned parents and voters around the U.S. had started more than twice the annual average number of school board recalls.

"So long as interest groups and policymakers dismiss parents or treat them as a threat, parents and voters (often one and the same) will respond by acting in the best interests of their children."

"Parents have the receipts for the anti-science and anti-kid crowd, and they are just getting started," added N2 America senior advisor and veteran Virginia GOP strategist Zack Roday. "Teacher union controlled politicians will continue to be held accountable by the long memory of fed up parents,"

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Critics, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, argued the school board members — President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and Commissioner Alison Collins — pushed progressive politics rather than act in the best interest of children during the pandemic, and voters agreed, according to the San Francisco Department of Elections.

In San Francisco, one of the country's most liberal cities, Democrats were split over the recall effort. Fox News polling also revealed the high level of parental concern over what is being taught in schools. 

The mayor, who is now responsible for appointing new board members to fill the vacancies until another election in November, also praised the parents who initiated the effort.