Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ education agenda is deeply unpopular with women voters, including moms and grandmothers; women who identify as Republican, Independent, and Democrat; Black, white and Latina moms; and women without children. Those are among the findings of a national survey of likely women voters conducted this month and released today. It finds that the vast majority of mom and women voters strongly agree that a few parents should not be able to ban books from school libraries and with schools being able to provide honest, accurate, age-appropriate history education including slavery and the civil rights movement, medically accurate, unbiased, inclusive and age-appropriate sex education, social and emotional learning, and the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ and transgender students.

The telephone survey, conducted by Lake Research Partners for MomsRising from May 4 to May 8, 2023, reached 800 likely 2024 women voters plus oversamples of 100 Black mom likely 2024 voters and 100 Latina mom likely 2024 voters.

“This new national survey makes it very clear that the DeSantis agenda is not moms’ agenda, or women’s agenda,” said Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO of MomsRising. “In fact, the vast majority of our country’s women voters reject it and abhor the exclusion, censorship, and division Gov. DeSantis and like-minded politicians have sown. Elections over the last year have demonstrated that the callous abortion bans Florida and other states are passing are both terribly unpopular and extremely dangerous, and now this new survey confirms that the right-wing education agenda also is completely out of touch with what moms and women want. MomsRising members have been telling us that for months.”

Among the findings from the new survey:

Honest, Accurate Education: 94% of likely mom voters and 92% of likely women voters support schools “providing an honest, accurate, and age-appropriate education that includes both the good and bad of our history so we can avoid making the same mistakes and create a better future.” Three in four women and moms (76% of both groups) strongly agree with that statement. There is near-universal agreement among Black, white and Latina moms that teachers should be able to teach age-appropriate history, and 86% of grandmother voters and 87% of women voters without children agree.

Book Bans: 78% of mom voters and 76% of women voters say that “a few parents should not be able to ban books from school libraries and deny other families their choices about what books their children have access to.” 92% of Democratic women, 73% of Independent women, and 57% of Republican women agree with that statement, as do 72% of voters who are grandmothers and 75% of women voters who do not have children.

Sex Education: Four in five mom voters (80%), and three in four women voters (76%) and grandmother voters (74%) agree that “teaching students the truth about pregnancy, sex, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) helps to lower rates of teen pregnancy and STIs and leads to healthier, safer youth.” Nearly three in five moms and women voters (58% of both groups) strongly agree with that statement.

Social and Emotional Learning: Nine in ten mom voters (91%) and nearly as many women voters (87%) agree that “schools play an important supporting role in children’s development of self-respect, personal responsibility, and social skills like anti-bullying.” More than two-thirds of both groups strongly agree with that statement. Four in five Republican women voters (80%) agree, and even more Democrats (94%) and Independents (85%). 87% of voters who are grandmothers and women without children agree as well.

LGBTQ Inclusion: Four in five mom voters (82%), and three in four women voters (76%) and grandmother voters (74%) agree that “children – whether they are transgender or not – learn best when they trust their teachers and feel safe to be themselves.” Three in five mom and women voters strongly agree with that statement.  93% of Democratic women, 71% of Independent women, and 59% of Republican women agree as well. Gov. DeSantis championed anti-LGBTQ measures, known as “don’t say gay” laws, but moms, grandmothers, and women across the nation want all children to feel safe to be themselves.

 The survey’s margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent. A memo by Lake Research Partners which reviews and analyzes the results is here.