The two most interesting education-focused elections

As voters go to the polls today, education issues are not top of mind in most cases — but there are some notable exceptions. Two elections in particular are worth paying attention to: governors’ races in Iowa and Oregon.

In both cases, one candidate has effectively used education to create a broader campaign pitch and appeal to voters across the political spectrum. Each candidate has run ads focused on schools, a rarity. If this strategy works in these states — and there are signs from polling that it is working — more candidates may copy the approach next election season. 

In Iowa, Democrat Rob Sand is the favorite to become the next governor of the state, which President Trump won by 13 points two years ago.

Sand’s critique of Iowa’s private school voucher program has been at the center of his campaign. It’s come up repeatedly in events and debates. “I want public oversight of public money, and when you allow private schools to take public money but reject students, then you actually haven’t promoted school choice,” Sand told me in an interview earlier this year. 

Sand, the state auditor, is proposing new income limits on vouchers to save taxpayer dollars. Iowa, like many Republican-controlled states in recent years, has made subsidies for private schools universally available.

Sand has also argued that the state has neglected public schools by focusing on vouchers and culture-war issues. In one ad, Sand, described as an “Iowa public school dad,” says, “Like most Iowa parents, we want to focus on math and reading — not political agendas from either extreme.” In another commercial, he stands next to his old elementary school as he warns about tax dollars flowing to private schools.

Sand’s campaign is co-opting traditional conservative narratives: In his telling, he will be a fiscally responsible steward of the voucher program and will keep public schools focused on academics, not social issues.

Iowa officials strongly dispute Sand’s claim that there is limited oversight of the voucher program, and his Republican opponent, Zach Lahn, has defended it as a form of parental choice. “Not every school is the best fit for every child,” he said at a recent debate.

Sand has led in every public poll. About 10% of Iowa voters in one survey said education is the most important issue in the state, higher than in some national polls.

In Oregon, the parties are swapped but the dynamics are similar. Republican Christine Drazan is polling surprisingly well in a blue state in what’s expected to be a strong year for Democrats. 

Drazan has hammered Democratic state leaders over the quality of schools. “Education is absolutely failing our kids,” she said in her opening general election ad, listing it alongside a litany of other issues. “Our problems are not partisan problems,” Drazan said. In another commercial, she promises to “bring standards back to our schools.” 

Adjusted for student demographics, Oregon has some of the lowest test scores in the nation, and concerns about the state’s schools have drawn widespread media attention. “Here we are, at the bottom of another list,” Drazan says in an education-focused ad. “Things have to change.” She would reinstate the state’s high school graduation test and add more instructional time, the ad says.

The key to Drazan’s success may be that she has linked her concerns about schools to a broader critique of the state’s governance in a way that appeals across partisan lines. 

Incumbent Gov. Tina Kotek made it easier for the state to intervene in low-performing school districts, which has alienated some former allies in the teachers union. “We have more work to do and we want to stay the course on the things that are working,” Kotek said in one debate.

Election forecasters say Kotek is the favorite to win, but note that Drazan has a shot at an upset. Oregon is the only state that Trump lost where Republicans have any meaningful chance of flipping the governor’s seat.

Although it’s hard to know for sure what’s working in a campaign, both Drazan and Sand appear to have used education to break through in tough political environments.

This is somewhat unusual, but it didn’t used to be. From the 1990s through the early 2000s, it was common for national politicians, including candidates for president, to talk about education as a way of pitching themselves to moderate voters.

These days national Democrats rarely talk about schools. Republicans, including President Trump, more often speak about education, but politically this hasn’t worked all that well of late. Voters tend to trust Democrats on education, and few are fans of Trump’s plan to close the Education Department. 

After the dust settles from today’s elections, the 2028 campaign will effectively begin in earnest. Few voters say education is a top issue at the moment, but that could change since many are dissatisfied with the trajectory of American education. Savvy politicians from both parties may pay particular attention to the results in Iowa and Oregon.

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