Indiana, Idaho Election Results Weren’t About His Agenda, Bush Says

Mark Wilson / Getty Images News

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at the Republican National Convention.

Indiana voters threw out the a Superintendent of Public Instruction with close ties to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

In Idaho voters overturned three laws based on policies Bush has supported in Florida.

But Bush doesn’t take those results personally — it’s about Indiana and Idaho and not Bush’s policies.

Bush says overall the results were mixed on Election Night, citing charter school wins in Washington and Georgia.

“Well it’s not my education agenda it’s the education agenda of the Indiana governor, the Indiana state school office, the Indiana legislature, the Indiana business community that Tony Bennett didn’t get elected,” he told StateImpact Florida’s Sarah Gonzalez.

“In Idaho, my gosh, Florida requires one online course in order to graduate from high school. No big deal in my mind. But in Idaho that became a controversial thing, give me a break.

“The unions are very good at defending their turf and that’s exactly what happened in South Dakota and Idaho. That doesn’t mean the fight stops, you know, the fight will continue.

“In Washington state there was a passage of a charter school law. Washington state was i think one of eight states that didn’t have a charter school law. In Georgia, they passed a constitutional amendment to allow for a statewide authorizer for charter schools; to kind of force more innovation at the local level.

“So it was a mixed night, for sure.”