Next Gen Dems and SEE Alliance helped secure progressive wins.
By Alice Herman/Suncoast Searchlight
Original Air Date: September 8 2026
Host: A youth movement was behind progressive wins in Sarasota County’s recent school board elections. Alice Herman with Suncoast Searchlight brings us this story.
Alice Herman: At 17 years old, Booker High School senior Jodany Del Rosario-Arcadia is too young to vote.
Kennedy Cole, Nicole Walkiewicz, Luna Reitz-Neto, Sebastian Martinez, Jodany Del Rosario-Arcadia, and Dylan Ramsey serve as executive board of Next Gen Dems, a Democratic group in Sarasota | Photo courtesy of Alan Pollak via Suncoast Searchlight
That didn’t stop her from knocking on doors in the hot sun for weeks before the August school board elections in Sarasota County.
Jodany Del Rosario-Arcadia: I was very excited and very relieved that all the hard work we put into it paid off, because a lot of people don’t know the behind-the-scenes.
AH: That was Del Rosario-Arcadia. She’s on the board of Next Gen Dems, a Democratic club in Sarasota that focuses on organizing younger voters. She said she and other young canvassers knocked on doors in the hot summer weather and in the rain. When they weren’t knocking on doors, they were calling voters.
Meanwhile, the youth-led group Social Equity through Education Alliance, better known as SEE Alliance, helped mobilize students before school board meetings for years before the 2026 elections.
Political observers and activists said that sustained surge of interest in school board policies among younger community members translated into on-the-ground campaigning before the August election.
Next Gen Dems president Sebastian Martinez, left, and vice president Luna Reitz-Neto, right, canvassed for the progressive slate of school board candidates | Photo courtesy of Alan Pollak via Suncoast Searchlight
Those student activists backed Megan Tennimon, Beth Mayberry and Jimmy Glover, who ran on a platform rejecting the culture war battles that for years dominated the board.
Tennimon and Mayberry swept to victory, winning by more than 10 percentage points each. Glover, who ran in a three-way race, won the largest share of votes and will face Heidi Brandt, who has the backing of the Republican Party, in November.
The results were a stunning reversal for a school board that had become nationally synonymous with conservative backlash to LGBTQ+ inclusion and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Sarasota County School Board candidate Megan Tennimon speaks with student supporters outside Tamiami Tap on Tuesday night after winning her race for the District 4 seat | Photo: Alice Herman, Suncoast Searchlight
The election outcomes highlighted the growing influence of young people in choosing their schools’ leadership.
On election night, Tennimon thanked young organizers for their role, saying, “When young people commit to a cause and join in civic duty, they can accomplish anything.”
To read more about the grassroots movement behind progressive school board victories in Sarasota County, please visit suncoastsearchlight.org/sarasota-school-board-election-youth-organizers.
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