LITTLETON, Colo – Ready Colorado celebrates the victory of Republican candidate Yazmin Navarro in the 8th Congressional District seat on the Colorado State Board of Education.
Yazmin is currently in the lead with 51.54% of the vote with her vote share gaining with each passing update. Once the results are finalized, she will oust incumbent Democrat Rhonda Solis in what was a critically important race for education reform and school choice.
Brenda Dickhoner, President and CEO of Ready Colorado, issued the following statement:
“With Yazmin’s win, our State Board of Education will retain a pro-school choice majority on the board. We are thrilled to have been part of the coalition to support her candidacy. Her victory ensures that school choice can continue to flourish and that schools are held accountable for improving student outcomes.”
Yazmin is an immigrant, an educator, a military wife, and a mother concerned about our schools. She will be a strong voice for high standards and rigor, school choice, and parent engagement.
Yazmin will serve a six-year term and join three other Republicans and one pro-charter Democrat on the State Board of Education to create a bipartisan 5-4 pro-charter school majority. This is absolutely critical as the State Board of Education votes on all appeals by charter schools when local school boards refuse to open a new charter school or try to shut down any existing charters.
To learn more about the Colorado State Board of Education, its history, and its responsibilities, please take a look at our 2022 article entitled What does the Colorado State Board of Education do?
While Ready Colorado is disappointed that Amendment 80 narrowly lost, it is encouraging that 48% of voters supported a constitutional right to school choice in one of the bluest states in the country in a race that saw $6 million of fear-mongering ads full of falsehoods funded by the teachers union.
Moreover, Colorado is following national trends in seeing increased support for school choice among Latino voters. Amendment 80 saw majority support in communities with large numbers of Hispanic voters including Pueblo County (55%), Adams County (52%), and Weld County (55%).
Yazmin Navarro ran on a platform of expanding school choice in a district that is 39% Hispanic and saw such success that she garnered more votes than Democratic Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo, who is currently leading Republican Gabe Evans in a race that is still too close to call.
Yazmin’s victory is monumental for not only the 135,000 kids currently in charter schools, but the untold thousands more that are on charter waiting lists or hoping a high-quality charter school will open nearby.
Ready Colorado, via its own Independent Expenditure Committee, also supported winning State Senate candidates Scott Bright (District 13) and Cleave Simpson (District 6), both of whom are staunch supporters of school choice.
It was a strong night for school choice candidates.
