When Republicans target K-12 parents in culture wars, they don’t know who they’re dealing with

Republicans have been pushing hard on “parents’ rights”—meaning book bans and elimination of any LGBTQ+ representation or serious discussion of race from public schools. It’s an effort to simultaneously fuel their base with culture war hysteria and win back the white suburban mom voting bloc with a subject they’re supposed to care about more than any other: protecting their kids.

It’s a campaign that’s created a great deal of noise and a series of state laws limiting what can be taught. In 2022, as far-right school board candidates took over in many places, it looked promising for Republicans. This week, though, groups like Moms for Liberty hit serious opposition, losing a substantial majority of the races where they endorsed candidates.

There are explanations for this. Most broadly, Americans are rarely quite as hateful as Republicans are banking on these days. But in the wake of Tuesday’s elections, it’s important to talk about something else Republicans may be missing: Parents of school-age kids in 2023 are younger Gen-Xers and, increasingly, elder millennials. Those are, broadly speaking, people who have grown up and lived their whole lives on the other side of the culture war.