ICYMI: School Freedom is the GOP’s Defining Issue
In January, I made it clear that any Republican lawmaker who failed to support Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Act during his special legislative session should expect to lose an expensive primary funded by Club for Growth Action.
Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, Club for Growth Action President David McIntosh published an op-ed in The Tennessean reinforcing that school freedom is the defining issue in Republican primary politics. Club for Growth Action’s affiliated School Freedom Fund recently spent nearly $1 million to elect Matt Van Epps as the Republican nominee for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional district after his opponent, State Representative Jody Barrett, opposed Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Act.
In 2024, School Freedom Fund invested $3.6 million into Tennessee state legislative Republican primaries to defeat 4 candidates who refused to support school freedom.
Click here to read the full piece from Club for Growth Action President David McIntosh in The Tennessean.
EXCERPTS:
School freedom decided the Republican special primary in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District on Oct. 7, and it will continue to define Republican politics across the nation.
Voters sent an unmistakable message. They want leaders who trust parents, not bureaucrats, to decide how and where their children are educated. Education freedom is no longer a regional experiment or a campaign slogan; it is the future of conservative policy and the heartbeat of America’s reform movement.
In January, I made it clear that any Republican lawmaker who failed to support Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Act during his special legislative session should expect to lose an expensive primary funded by Club for Growth Action.
That was not an idle warning. We meant it, and in race after race, Tennessee voters confirmed it. They rewarded those who stood with parents and voted against those who sided with the teachers’ unions. They understood that true conservatism means giving families the freedom to choose the best education for their children.
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Last year, Club for Growth Action’s School Freedom Fund invested in key state legislative primaries across Tennessee, backing candidates who supported Governor Lee and President Trump in advancing education freedom. Those candidates won. They did it against some powerful incumbents who once seemed untouchable. The message was unmistakable: Republican voters expect their representatives to deliver real school freedom reform.
That message became unmistakably national this fall. In the special election for TN-07, Jody Barrett stood against the Education Freedom Act even after President Trump endorsed it. Voters made their decision. They turned to a candidate who supported school freedom and aligned with President Trump.
Club for Growth Action and our affiliated PACs invested to ensure reformers prevailed. The people of Tennessee responded with a decisive victory for Matt Van Epps, who worked with Governor Lee to pass school freedom. The takeaway lesson is very simple: School freedom wins and Republicans who oppose school freedom should expect to lose their next primary.
And we did the same thing in Texas. After the legislature killed Gov. Abbott’s school freedom plan in 2023, Club for Growth Action and our affiliated PACs came in and defeated 10 anti-school freedom incumbents in the Republican primaries and runoff. The conservatives who replaced them gave Abbott the votes he needed to pass Texas’ landmark School Freedom bill earlier this year.
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The Tennessee results prove that the Republican Party is now the party of school freedom. You cannot call yourself a conservative and oppose it. That is not partisan rhetoric—it is the political reality shaped by voters, donors and parents alike. President Trump understands it. Governor Lee understands it. And increasingly, lawmakers at every level are beginning to accept that truth.
Looking ahead to 2026, any Republican who ignores that lesson does so at real political risk. The next generation of conservative leadership will be defined not by rhetoric in state capitols but by results delivered to families.