An analysis of preliminary results from New York State’s May 17 school board elections found that the majority of conservative “parents’ rights” candidates, who oppose mask mandates, critical race theory and other policies, were trounced in their races.

Nationally, there has been a groundswell of activity among conservative groups that want to influence local education policies on masks, sexual education, book banning and other topics. They contend schools are not respecting parents’ rights.

Republican gubernatorial hopefuls in New York, including Andrew Giuliani and U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, regularly highlighted these issues in advance of the school board elections. But 14 of the 15 school board candidates Giuliani endorsed lost their races. Zeldin sought to drum up turnout for Western New York (WNY) Students First, an anti-masking group, but 16 of the 20 candidates he endorsed were defeated. Turnout was at unprecedented numbers for school board races.