DeSantis appoints another failed Florida school board candidate
Tampa Bay Times | Jeffrey S. Solochek | August 25, 2025
The big story: Another failed school board candidate has found a way to the post she sought, with the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Late Friday, the governor announced his appointment of Karen Rose to the Sarasota County school board. Rose, who had served one term on the nonpartisan board previously, lost her 2024 reelection bid despite her endorsement by DeSantis in a county where Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly two to one.
DeSantis had named Rose, an educator, to the State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota board of trustees in June. He places her on the Sarasota school board after another member resigned to become the school district’s police chief.
It’s a familiar pattern. Since the 2024 election, DeSantis also named failed candidates he backed for the Broward and Hillsborough school boards to the State Board of Education, and one candidate for Flagler County school board to the position he lost in the election.
A Sarasota County public education advocacy group is voicing its displeasure with the latest move. Lisa Schurr, cofounder of Support Our Schools, is raising questions about what Rose offered to do in exchange for the seat.
Schurr noted that after Rose lost, she did not attend board meetings or workshops in person for the remainder of her term. The governor must have a reason for wanting back in office a conservative politician that heavily Republican Sarasota rejected, she said.
“Local rule is dying drop by drop,” Schurr said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times. “DeSantis seems to think he knows more than the voters. Fascism replaces local rule.”
Rose’s appointment takes effect today.
