Lee County is voting now Check real time voter turnout numbers Find your district Get to the polls
Why should you care? See what your vote actually decides
Follow the Money

Who's funding your School Board?

An independent, non-sponsored look at who is backing each Lee County School Board candidate, their donors, the special interests behind them, and where the money overlaps. Built entirely from public campaign-finance records. Click any candidate to see their donors.

Why Should You Care?

Three out of four registered voters skipped the last Lee County primary. Here is who decided everything in their absence, and what is on your 2026 ballot to change it.

Why bother

Empty seats and unfilled ballots.

The board meetings are nearly empty. The same names fund the same campaigns, on the same day. By the time you hear about a vote, it feels like it already happened without you. So people stopped showing up. Maybe you did too.

That feeling is real. It is also the point.

Here is the part they count on

A system like this does not have to beat you.

The system is banking on your staying home. Low turnout is their entire strategy. The fewer people show up, the more that well-funded special-interest network gets to decide what happens with your tax dollars.

So look at who actually decides
The math nobody shows you
492,687

registered voters in Lee County.

Barely 1 in 4 votes in the primary.

In 2024, just 23% of registered voters cast a ballot in the August primary. About 3 in 4 stayed home. Those are the elections that can decide a school board seat outright.

Voted in the primary Stayed home
It's not hopeless. We just need to make it to the polls.
The 3 out of 4 people who stay home could decide every seat.
That swing starts with you showing up.
Your 2026 ballot

Here's what your vote can do:

Every seat below sets the money and rules for your kids' schools and your neighborhood. The majority of 7 are on the ballot this year.

School Board
4 of 7 seats
on the Aug 18 ballot
They control: who builds new schools and at what cost, the impact fee the county acts on, and the entire budget for a district of 100,000+ students. Four seats decide the majority.
County Commission
Districts 2, 4, 5
on the 2026 ballot
They control: the impact fee rate developers actually pay, land use, and the development approvals that shape the county. Commissioners are elected countywide, so every Lee County voter helps decide all three.
Also on your 2026 ballot: Cape Coral Mayor, Cape Coral Council (Districts 1, 4, 6), a County Court judge, and the Supervisor of Elections who runs the whole vote.
Take it back

Here's how we get there:

1
Make sure you are registered.
Two minutes at lee.vote. Check your registration, your address, and where you vote.
2
Show up August 18, 2026.
The August primary can decide school board seats outright. November 3 is the general for county and city seats. Vote early, by mail, or in person.
We can't create new voters. But we can get more voters to show up. That starts with YOU.
Check your registration at lee.vote See who funds the candidates
Parents for Transparency is nonpartisan. We do not tell you who to vote for. We show you where the money goes and which seats are yours to decide. Every figure here traces to public records.

Sources: registration, Lee County Supervisor of Elections (July 2026); primary turnout, Florida Division of Elections (2024 primary, 23%). Seats up in 2026 per lee.vote.

parentsfortransparency.com