Republican lawmakers in a Senate hearing Monday recommended Tina Descovich, a Moms for Liberty co-founder labeled as an “extremist group,” for an appointment to the Florida Commission on Ethics. The full Senate must approve the executive appointment.
Descovich, who served one term as a school board member in Brevard County from 2016-2020, has been a member of the commission since last September when she was appointed to the board by Gov. Ron DeSantis. She’s participated in four meetings since her appointment, and she told the Florida Senate Ethics and Elections Committee that she’s proven her work on the school board and ethics commission and can be fair and honest.
“I think I’ve proven that I’m able to rise above politics and have intelligent, helpful conversations and discussions as we work through these issues,” she said at the hearing.
Descovich listed her occupation as “Co-founder for Moms for Liberty” in a Senate executive appointment questionnaire.
But the SPLC Action Fund, an affiliate of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in a statement Monday that in the 2022 Year in Hate & Extremism report, “the SPLC designated Moms for Liberty as an antigovernment extremist group for engaging in anti-student inclusion actions to censor school discussions around race, discrimination, and gender identity.”
“We question the ethics of someone who traffics in conspiracy theories and uses a public platform to target teachers, school officials, and students,” said Jonathan Webber, Florida policy director for the SPLC Action Fund. “Descovich’s appointment is a slap in the face to Floridians who want inclusive public spaces to live, work, and get a quality education.”
“Hate has no place in our schools, communities, and governing bodies — especially an office tasked with investigating breaches of public trust.”
Meanwhile, the three Democrats on the panel — South Florida Senators Tina Polsky and Bobby Powell, and Darryl Rouson from the Tampa Bay area — grilled Descovich.
Noting her relationships with powerful Republicans in the state, Polsky questioned if Descovich could truly be unbiased if certain officials came before her, such as Brevard County GOP Rep. Randy Fine, who the commission found last April had found probable cause that he had “abused” and “misused his position” as a state representative in a personal feud with Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins. The outcome of that case has yet to be decided.
Descovich said she became friendly with Fine when they both ran for office in Brevard County in 2016, but that was the extent of their friendship, and she believed that there wouldn’t be an issue for her to oversee a case involving him.
Descovich said she would recuse herself if a case involving Bridget Ziegler came before the ethics commission. Ziegler was an original co-founder of Moms for Liberty who currently serves on the Sarasota County School Board and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, She is also the wife of now former Republican Party of Florida Chair Christian Ziegler, who was removed as party chair last month after it was reported that he was under investigation for sexual assault (those charges were dropped in mid-January but at the time there was a probable cause affidavit for federal “video voyeurism,” according to a news release.)
“Not necessarily because I couldn’t be fair, but because the public perception would make it as such that I probably should recuse myself from that vote,” Descovich said.
Sen. Powell said he thought Descovich had been downplaying the Moms for Liberty group during the hearing. But she said she saw her role with the ethics commission much differently than the Moms for Liberty group. “I’m not there for political purposes,” she said. “I’m not there to be disruptive. I’m not there to lobby for an organization that I work for or founded on the other side. I’m there to serve the state of Florida, to serve our elected officials and the people in that capacity.”
Polsky then brought up a July 2022 tweet where Descovich indicated her displeasure with a transgender person wanting to be known by the pronouns of “they/them.” She pressed Descovich to explain where she was coming from.
“In my personal life, it seems more and more people are asking to be called a man if they’re a woman, especially with children. And the absurdity of a singular human being wanting to be called a ‘they’ is just too far for me,” she said, adding that she believed she could be fair if a nonbinary person had to come before the ethics commission on an issue.
Southwest Florida Republican Sen. Debbie Mayfield, who acknowledging knowing Descovich, said, “Yes, she’s involved with Moms for Liberty, but I also know her as a person of integrity and I don’t believe that she would do anything, anything to harm this process when it comes to the Ethics Commission.”
The vote to approve Descovich was 6-3, with Democrats Polsky, Rouson and Powell voting no.
The post GOP senators recommend Moms for Liberty co-founder for FL ethics job, despite group’s ‘extremism’ appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
