Millions of campaign dollars aimed at tilting school voucher battle are flowing into state races

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Millions of dollars are being spent this year to steer voters toward candidates for Republican-led Legislatures who not only support school vouchers, but will become key figures in implementing school choice programs in states across the U.S.

Most recently, national pro-voucher advocates declared victory after spending more than $4.5 million in Tennessee's primary election to defend and elect legislative candidates they claim will support school choice proposals in 2025 when state lawmakers are slated to return to the Capitol to enact policy.

Meanwhile, at least $14.8 million was spent by similar advocacy groups in the Texas primary election earlier in May to oust and replace voucher opponents. In Idaho, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on candidates who both opposed and supported school vouchers in the rural mountain-west state.

The spending spree is backed by the nation's most high-profile voucher influencers, including the School Freedom Fund, a pro-voucher group tied to Club for Growth; the American Federation for Children, which was founded by former Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos; and Americans for Prosperity, the Koch family’s well-heeled free-market group.

Their focus is often on primary elections because in Republican-dominated states, primaries are seen as the most competitive hurdle to getting elected.

“Make no mistake — if you call yourself a Republican and oppose school freedom, you should expect to lose your next primary,” said David McIntosh, president of the School Freedom Fund, said in a statement shortly after Tennessee's primary election. “As we continue to hear from different governors, we plan on repeating our results from Tennessee and Texas across the country. The school freedom revolution is just beginning.”

Thirty-two states have implemented some sort of voucher program in the U.S., and some have been in place for decades, often with strict income requirements or narrowly tailored for students with disabilities.

Yet, over the years, there's been a noticeable push among Republican leaders to make available taxpayer-funded vouchers, or scholarships that can follow a child regardless of income to any public or private school. About a dozen states now have such programs. But proposals are being considered in many more, with varying degrees of legislative support.

Idaho, Tennessee and Texas all weighed sweeping school voucher proposals over the past year, but faced resistance not only from Democrats — who don’t hold as much political power — but also Republican members wary of directing public education dollars away from their districts.

Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee was forced to abandon his plans for universal school choice earlier this year after divisions inside the GOP-controlled Statehouse failed to come to a consensus on key specifics.

The failure prompted Lee to break with his previous stance of remaining quiet during GOP primary elections and instead publicly pick favorites this year in a handful of legislative races.

Additionally, outside groups like Club for Growth, American Federation for Children, Americans for Prosperity Action, and others poured $4.5 million across 16 House and Senate legislative races. Three of the open primaries saw almost a million dollars spent in each of the races.

Club for Growth spent the majority of the money, pouring $3.6 million across five races and ultimately winning four of those seats.

Lee didn't endorse any opponents of a sitting Republican incumbent, but he did throw support behind candidates in four open legislative seats — three of which were successful.

The modest gains for Lee's cause came at a big political cost.

After Lee endorsed Sen. Jon Lundberg, this year's voucher bill sponsor, former President Donald Trump backed Lundberg's opponent, Bobby Harshbarger, son of U.S. Rep. Diane Harshbarger. After Harshbarger was declared the winner, Trump swiped at Lee on social media, calling him a RINO, or “Republican in Name Only" even though he endorsed Lee in his 2022 reelection.

Lee has so far brushed aside the criticism, and instead released a statement declaring that Republican primary voters “sent a clear message: It’s time to deliver school choice for Tennessee families."

Focusing solely on primary voters may be a winning strategy to securing key state level races, but it comes at a cost of electing candidates who may not represent the average voter, said John Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University.

“A very small proportion of the Tennessee voting public is driving these outcomes, that's not good for democracy,” he said.

In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also touted major wins for voucher advocates in the aftermath of the state's runoff primary election in May.

Months prior, back in late 2023, a group of House Republicans joined Democrats to help defeat a school voucher bill — delivering a blow to one of Abbott's top legislative priorities.

Similar to the playbook used in Tennessee, Abbott and national voucher groups pivoted to ousting voucher opponents in the primary election in order to secure a legislative victory in 2025.

Club for Growth ultimately took credit for removing 10 GOP incumbents who had opposed Abbott's voucher push after targeting 14 races in primary and runoff election. Club for Growth reported spending $8.8 million and Abbott spent at least $6 million between the primary and runoff elections.

“The Texas legislature now has enough votes to pass school choice," Abbott posted after the runoff election.

And in Idaho, four anti-school voucher Republican incumbents lost their reelection bids after the American for Children PAC spent more than $300,000 to promote school choice candidates.

During the 2022 election cycle, the organization spent $9 million on state legislative races to support school choice friendly candidates but CEO Tommy Schultz promised to spend “at least $10 million” this year.

“To date, AFC and its affiliates have deployed more than $9 million in state legislative primary elections across the country, and we will spend millions more in the general election to advance school choice policies for American families,” Schultz said in a statement to AP.

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Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise contributed to this report.