Jason Fischer Lands a Win in 6-Way School Board Race

Winning a six-way race for school board is rare enough. But a candidate for school board landing the support of a popular former governor is almost unheard of. That is, until American Majority-trained Jason Fischer nabbed the endorsement of Jeb Bush.

Fischer was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He graduated with an electrical engineering degree from the University of North Florida. Fischer worked as a civilian engineer with the Navy for five years starting in 2006. During his time working with the Navy he had the opportunity to study national security strategy at the Naval War College, as well as work in DC on several policy issues.

Fischer was no stranger to politics before he won a six-way race for a seat on the Duval County school board in Florida. Fischer’s interest in politics started in earnest after his father’s battle with a rare disease gave him a glimpse into how the government directly impacts people’s lives. Fischer volunteered with local campaigns in his home state and began getting involved with leadership of the local Republican Party.

In 2012, Fischer decided to run for his home county’s school board. From the beginning, Fischer ran a strongly conservative campaign, emphasizing school choice and teacher accountability. In June, Fischer attended American Majority’s Candidate Training. Though a veteran of several campaigns and an active member in the Republican Party, Fisher points to things that he learned at the training that changed his campaign. “Learning about how to craft a more formalized fundraising strategy was very helpful.” Fischer says. “Afterwards we went back and sat down and redid our entire fundraising strategy.”

Fischer says the opportunity to give his stump speech during the campaign training and have it critiqued by other candidates and the American Majority instructors was invaluable. “When you get up and you speak nobody gives you a lot of feedback afterwards. People who like you say you were great. People who didn’t like you don’t care. Having some of that constructive criticism during the training was good.”

With his history of active involvement, as well as his commitment to conservative principles during his campaign, Fischer netted several high-profile endorsements, rare for a candidate for school board. Chief among these was former Florida governor and conservative powerhouse Jeb Bush. “I am proud to endorse Jason Fischer for Duval County School Board in District 7,” Bush said in a release. “Jason and I share a commitment to ensuring every student’s education experience prepares them for success.”

Fischer took first in a crowded field of candidates, and then won a runoff in November. He says he would recommend American Majority’s candidate training to anyone considering running for office—the earlier the better. “Particularly for people who haven’t spent a whole lot of time volunteering in campaigns, it helps to bring more formalization to the process. There are things that wouldn’t occur to you even if you had run your own business simply because it’s different than running a campaign.”