Testing Article
Moms for Liberty (M4L), a conservative “parents’ rights” organization, has emerged as a visible player in U.S. education politics. Since its founding in 2021, M4L has engaged in local school board politics and elections across the country. Along the way, M4L has attracted plenty of headlines. Most jarringly, an Indiana chapter of M4L was in the news after featuring an Adolf Hitler quote in its newsletter this past June. Despite the resulting negative press, Republican presidential candidates spoke at a national M4L conference just few a days later.
M4L’s quick rise to prominence within the Republican Party has raised questions about how much influence it might have in American politics. Yet, despite the outsized attention the group has garnered in the media, we know little about M4L outside of what its founders have said in public statements and interviews.
To get a better sense of the scale and geography of Moms for Liberty, we collected data on where: 1) M4L chapters are located; 2) M4L has endorsed school board candidates; and 3) M4L-endorsed candidates have won/lost their elections. We find that the geography of Moms for Liberty is complex. While a disproportionately large share of M4L’s members and endorsements are in politically “blue” and “purple” areas (especially suburbs), M4L-endorsed candidates win at higher rates in more conservative parts of the country. And while M4L’s membership has grown quickly in its first three years, its membership pales in comparison to that of the true behemoths in education politics: the teachers’ unions.