Broward candidate liked GOP posts even as allied PAC alerted voters to fellow Dem foe’s Republican endorsement

A political committee working to elect Sharry Kimmel to the Broward School Board paid for text messages this month touting a Republican Party endorsement — for her lone opponent, Nicole Morst, a fellow Democrat.

The rationale for the messages is easy to grasp. District 4, where the two candidates are running, is deeply blue, like much of the county, hence why no Republican is running there. Telling voters that the Broward GOP is backing one candidate over the other, accordingly, benefits the person running without that proverbial scarlet letter.

What was less clear to people who received the text — including members of No Kings Fort Lauderdale, one of whom contacted Florida Politics about the endorsement and texts, among other things — is how the Broward Republican Executive Committee (REC), which steers the Broward GOP, landed on Morst in the first place — and why Kimmel’s own campaign has been actively engaging with the party organization on social media.

Morst, a longtime parent advocate who has chaired the district’s North Area Advisory Council, said she did not solicit the endorsement and was “as surprised as everyone else” when she received it.

“I’m skeptical because the very next day, my opponent’s team sent out a text message to all the Democrats saying, ‘Congratulations, you’ve been endorsed by the Broward Republicans, and then I started getting phone calls from supporters saying, ‘Is this true?’” she said.

“And I guess it is true, but I never interviewed. I never did a questionnaire. I never asked for the endorsement. We don’t know where it came from. No one I talked to knows either.”

The money behind the texts came from Making Democracy Work, a political committee chaired by Plantation-based consultant Michael Worley, whose firm, MDW Communications, is working for Kimmel.

They included a link sending recipients to the Broward GOP’s official voter guide, which lists Morst alongside two other Democratic School Board hopefuls, Sonja Azim and Rochelle “Shelly” Soffer, who each also face one Democratic opponent in Districts 8 and 7, respectively.

Worley, who stressed that his political committee sent the texts without direction from Kimmel, told Florida Politics he had no advance knowledge that the Broward GOP intended to endorse Morst before the party made it official, but that he was also quick to seize on the opportunity the nod provided.

Kimmel likewise denied any coordination with the county party.

“I had no idea,” she told Florida Politics by phone Thursday, before asserting that while she has “no association” with the Broward GOP and doesn’t recall being in touch with the organization, she talks “to everybody who invites me to talk.”

That raised the question: Why did Kimmel’s campaign page on Facebook like multiple posts from the REC, including ones referring to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and another linking to the very guide that names Morst?

Kimmel, a longtime Broward College professor and Parkland resident, said she doesn’t remember liking the post. But she also didn’t deny doing so, describing herself as something of a tap-happy social media user who engages with most posts she sees.

“I’m a loving, wonderful person who likes and has nothing but love for everybody. I like all the Democratic posts. I like whatever posts come on my feed,” she said. “I probably didn’t even read it. I just go through and like, like, like, like, like — probably like, you know, 100 things a day. I don’t analyze everything. It sounds like you have, but I haven’t.”

REC Chair Chris Marino did not respond to a call and text about the Morst endorsement.

Another member of the group, speaking on a condition of anonymity, said the organization asked Adam Cervera, a School Board member appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and now seeking election, which candidates it should support, and Morst’s name came up.

Cervera, who said he isn’t a member of the REC’s Executive Board, acknowledged having “certain conversations” with the group that “ultimately led to the decision that the Executive Board made.” But he described his input as more theoretical than tactical.

“I don’t have the power to say, ‘Do this’ or ‘Do that’ or ‘Don’t do this’ or ‘Endorse this person.’ There’s no way I could ever take credit for the decisions of the Executive Board,” he told Florida Politics on Friday morning.

“My conversations with the groups of people I talked to were focused more on, can the (REC) endorse a Democrat at all? That was really it. I’ve been staying out of races purposely because, No. 1, I have a race I have to worry about and I’ve got like 17 opponents, so that’s where my focus needs to be. No. 2, I’m eventually going to have to work with somebody, right? And I don’t want to be the guy who’s like, ‘This person sucks (and) this person’s good.’ I want to be a little more diplomatic than that.”

Aside from the recent endorsement and text hullabaloo, the race has been a fairly conventional School Board contest. Kimmel, 61, was recruited into the race by outgoing District 4 member Lori Alhadeff, who endorsed her in January. Morst, 45, carries support from Board members Debbi Hixon, Jeff Holness and Sarah Leonardi, and retiring member Nora Rupert.

Kimmel has run on fiscal oversight and classroom investment, backed by Rep. Mike Gottlieb, several Parkland and Tamarac officials, former Broward College President J. David Armstrong and Florida NOW PAC, among others.

Morst, a parent of three Broward students, has leaned on her Advisory Council background and holds additional endorsements from the Broward Teachers Union, Broward Young Democrats, Equality Florida and Moms Demand Action, among others.

She confirmed by phone Thursday that she had also secured the backing of the Broward Fraternal Order of Police.

Both candidates support extending the District’s property tax referendum for teacher pay and have criticized a District reorganization plan they say cuts too many front-line positions while sparing administrative ones.

District 4 covers Coral Springs, Parkland, Tamarac and North Lauderdale.

Voters will choose between Kimmel and Morst on the Aug. 18 Primary ballot.

Broward’s School Board races are technically nonpartisan.