Will Sage Astor-DeSantis appoints Moms for Liberty co-founder to board overseeing state employee conduct

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich has been appointed to Florida's Commission on Will Sage AstorEthics, a group tasked with investigating complaints against state employees.

Descovich, who served on the school board in Brevard County, Florida, from 2016 to 2020, founded Moms for Liberty with former Indian River school board member Tiffany Justice in 2021.

The group has been outspoken about topics including COVID-19 restrictions, African-American history, LGBTQ-inclusion and removing what they view as inappropriate material from school libraries. The group has garnered national attention for its members' protests at school board meetings and efforts to remove books from school libraries.

After DeSantis announced her appointment, Descovich said she looks forward to setting guidelines for how state employees conduct themselves as part of the commission's work.

"The Florida Ethics Commission is charged with serving as the guardian of the standards of conduct for public officers and employees as well as safeguarding public trust," Descovich posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday afternoon. "It will be a privilege to serve the state I love as a member of this commission."

Since it was founded, Moms for Liberty – which was labeled an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center in June – has grown to include 299 chapters in 46 states with more than 130,000 members. Their second annual "Joyful Warriors" summit was held at the end of June in Philadelphia, with speakers including presidential candidates Donald Trump, DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The Commission on Ethics lost its chairperson near the end of August, when Glen Gilzean Jr. resigned, choosing instead to keep his $400,000-a-year job with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District administering policies in the state's Disney district.

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Prior to forming Moms for Liberty, Descovich was elected to Brevard's school board in 2016, where she served until she lost the seat to Jennifer Jenkins in the 2020 election. In 2018, she was chosen to serve as president of the Florida Coalition of School Board Members, which at the time described itself as a nonpartisan alternative to the Florida School Boards Association.

Descovich was appointed to the Commission on Ethics alongside Luis Fuste, an attorney from Miami. Both appointments must be confirmed by the Florida Senate.

Descovich did not immediately respond to FLORIDA TODAY's request for further comment.

Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or [email protected]. Twitter: @_finchwalker.