Millions of campaign dollars aimed at tilting school voucher battle are flowing into state races
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — This year, millions of dollars are being spent to sway voters to Republican-led legislatures who will not only support school vouchers but will also become key figures in implementing school choice programs in states across the U.S.
Most recently, national voucher advocates declared victory after spending more than $4.5 million on the Tennessee primary, championing and electing candidates they said would support school choice proposals in 2025. State lawmakers will then return to the Capitol to set the policy.
Meanwhile, at least $14.8 million was spent by similar advocacy groups in the Texas primary 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 mountainous western state.
The spending spree is backed by the nation’s largest voucher organizations, including the School Freedom Fund, a voucher advocate with ties to Club for Growth; the American Federation for Children, founded by Betsy DeVos, former education secretary in the Trump administration; and Americans for Prosperity, the Koch family’s wealthy free-market organization.
The focus is often on primaries, because primaries in states where Republicans have a majority are seen as the biggest challenge to getting elected.
“Make no mistake — if you call yourself a Republican and oppose school freedom, you can expect to lose your next primary,” David McIntosh, president of the School Freedom Fund, said in a statement shortly after the Tennessee primary. “As we continue to hear from governors, we plan to replicate our results from Tennessee and Texas across the country. The school freedom revolution has only just begun.”
Thirty-two states in the U.S. have implemented some form of voucher program. Some states have been around for decades. Many have strict income requirements or are specifically targeted to students with disabilities.
Yet over the years there has been a noticeable push among Republican leaders to taxpayer-funded vouchers or grants that can send a child to a public or private school regardless of income. About a dozen states now have such programs. But proposals are being considered in many more states, with varying degrees of legislative support.
Idaho, Tennessee and Texas all considered sweeping school voucher proposals in the past year, but faced resistance not only from Democrats (who lack political power) but also from Republican members concerned that public education money would be siphoned away from their districts.
Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Lee was forced to abandon his plans for universal school choice earlier this year after divisions within the Republican-controlled Statehouse failed to reach consensus on key details.
This failure prompted Lee to break with his previous stance of remaining silent during the Republican Party primaries, instead openly choosing his favorites in a handful of legislative elections this year.
In addition, outside groups such as Club for Growth, American Federation for Children, Americans for Prosperity Action and others spent $4.5 million on 16 legislative races in the House and Senate. In three of the open primaries, nearly $1 million was spent on each of the races.
Club for Growth spent the majority of the money, investing $3.6 million in five races, ultimately winning four of them.
Lee did not endorse any opponents of sitting Republican representatives, but he did support candidates in four open seats in the legislature, three of which were successful.
The modest gain for Lee’s cause came at a high political price.
After Lee endorsed Sen. Jon Lundberg, the sponsor of this year’s voucher bill, former President Donald Trump backed Lundberg’s opponent, Bobby Harshbarger, son of U.S. Rep. Diane Harshbarger. After Harshbarger was declared the winner, Trump lashed out at Lee on social media, calling him a RINO, or “Republican in Name Only,” even though he had supported Lee for reelection in 2022.
Lee has so far brushed aside the criticism, instead issuing a statement saying that Republican primary voters “sent a clear message: it’s time to deliver school choice for Tennessee families.”
According to John Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University, focusing solely on voters can be a successful strategy to secure important state elections. But it comes with the downside of electing candidates who don’t represent the average voter.
“A very small portion of Tennessee voters are responsible for these outcomes, and that’s not good for democracy,” he said.
In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott also praised the big wins by voucher advocates after the second primary in May.
Months earlier, in late 2023, a group of Republicans in the House of Representatives joined with Democrats to defeat a school voucher bill, a blow to one of Abbott’s top legislative priorities.
Similar to the playbook used in Tennessee, Abbott and national voucher groups opted to oust voucher opponents in the primaries to secure a legislative victory in 2025.
Club for Growth ultimately took credit for removing 10 GOP members who had opposed Abbott’s voucher push after they swept 14 races in the primaries and runoffs. Club for Growth reported spending $8.8 million, and Abbott spent at least $6 million between the primaries and runoffs.
“The Texas Legislature now has enough votes to approve free school choice,” Abbott wrote after the runoff elections.
And in Idaho, four incumbent Republican senators who oppose school vouchers lost their re-election bids after the American for Children PAC spent more than $300,000 promoting pro-school choice candidates.
During the 2022 election campaign, the organization spent $9 million on state legislative elections to support pro-school choice candidates, but CEO Tommy Schultz pledged to spend “at least $10 million” this year.
“To date, AFC and its affiliates have spent more than $9 million on state primaries across the country, and we will spend millions more in the general elections to advance school choice policies for American families,” Schultz said in a statement to the AP.
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Associated Press editor Jonathan Mattise contributed to this report.