A bitter contest between two women competing for a seat on a Florida school board has spiraled into a mudslinging campaign featuring allegations involving the Ku Klux Klan, controversial influencers, drag shows and even questions about where one candidate lives.
What was expected to be a low-key election focused on classrooms, teachers and school budgets has instead become a political soap opera. Lawyers, family properties and even a 10-year-old boy have been pulled into the increasingly hostile race.
At the heart of the dispute are Brittany Lyssy, an attorney and former president of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, and Daniela Simic, a longtime educator who previously worked for Hillsborough County schools.
The candidates are battling for the District 2 seat on the Hillsborough County School Board, a formally nonpartisan position that has become deeply entangled in partisan politics.
Both women say they would prefer to focus on children’s education. Yet the campaign has increasingly been overshadowed by intensely personal allegations playing out in public.
For Lyssy, the controversy centers partly on her living arrangements. Questions arose over whether the married mother of two truly resides in the district she wants to represent after property records linked her family to homes outside Hillsborough County.
Her husband, Doug Lyssy, is registered to vote in neighboring Manatee County, where the couple owns a property in Longboat Key.
After that home was damaged by Hurricane Helene, the family moved into a smaller downtown Tampa property: a 684-square-foot, one-bedroom condominium.
The attorney and former Tampa Bay Young Republicans president has faced questions about whether she lives in the district she seeks to represent
The veteran educator has been targeted by harsh campaign advertisements accusing her of a “radical agenda” and alleging ties between one of her endorsers and the Ku Klux Klan
The compact condominium, which her husband has owned since 2016, has fueled speculation among critics who question whether a family of four actually lives there.
Property records show that the couple bought a two-bedroom home in Longboat Key in 2025.
Lyssy says the Longboat Key purchase was an investment and maintains that the Tampa condominium remains her family’s home.
She has also said the speculation has produced troubling consequences, including alleged late-night visits by people who showed up at the condominium.
“I have resided in District 2 and continue to reside in District 2,” she told the Tampa Bay Times this week.
Lyssy is registered to vote in Hillsborough County and lists the Tampa address on her campaign paperwork.
Election officials say they do not independently verify the residency details submitted by candidates.
The dispute over her residence, however, was only the first flashpoint in the race.
The married mother of two has also faced scrutiny over her former political group’s invitation to controversial influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, though she says she had already left the organization’s presidency
The Tampa Bay Young Republicans invited controversial influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate to speak in 2025, but Lyssy says she was no longer the group’s president at the time
Lyssy has also faced questions about a 2025 social media invitation from the Tampa Bay Young Republicans to controversial brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate.
The influencers had been arrested and were awaiting trial on rape and human trafficking charges when the organization publicly invited them to speak.
Lyssy says she was no longer president when the invitation appeared and withdrew her membership following the post.
Her opponent, meanwhile, has found herself at the center of an altogether different barrage of allegations.
One particularly explosive campaign mailer accused Simic of pursuing a ‘radical agenda’ and being ‘endorsed by radical extremists’ with connections to the Ku Klux Klan.
The allegation stemmed from an endorsement by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that has itself faced accusations from the Justice Department concerning alleged funding of the KKK.
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Those allegations against the organization have been dismissed by others as baseless, and the mailer’s claims do not establish that Simic has any connection to the Klan.
The same literature also accused Simic of supporting ‘boys in girls’ sports and bathrooms’ and being ‘anti-parental rights.’
Simic has also received backing from Equality Florida Action, an LGBTQ advocacy organization.
Simic has also been forced to deny claims she took her 10-year-old son to a drag performance, condemning the decision to drag her child into the increasingly bitter campaign
Another advertisement attacked her professional record, alleging that school grades declined in Duval and Hillsborough counties during her time as an administrator.
That advertisement was financed by Leading For Our Future, a political action committee chaired by William S. Jones, who also chairs hundreds of right-leaning political committees across Florida.
Then things got even more personal.
In September, unidentified callers began contacting voters with questions about whether damaging allegations against Simic would influence their vote.
Among the claims was that she had taken her ‘school-age child’ to a drag performance. Simic, whose son is just 10, was horrified.
She denied the allegation and said involving her child had crossed a line.
Lyssy, for her part, insists neither she nor her campaign organized or commissioned the telephone polling.
Despite the onslaught, Simic says she refuses to retaliate with similarly personal attacks.
‘I have had several different people tell me that I need to attack back,’ she said. ‘But I’m not going to do that because if it takes going negative to win this campaign, then it’s not worth winning.
‘What I am trying to teach my son is to be a good man, and what I’m asking the voters is to make me a leader of their children. That to me is more important than anything,’ she added.
Simic has also defended her career in education, arguing that critics have cherry-picked school performance figures while ignoring improvements achieved during her tenure.
‘When I went into districts, they were struggling. When I left, they were better,’ she said.
Lyssy has faced another potentially embarrassing distraction after screenshots circulated online suggesting she was not in good standing with the Florida Bar.
She dismissed the matter as an administrative filing problem that the professional organization ‘promptly corrected.’
‘I believe Hillsborough County families deserve a School Board election focused on the issues that directly impact our children and their education,’ Lyssy said. ‘I believe candidates should be evaluated on their qualifications, ideas and commitment to serving our students.’
Behind the personal fireworks lies a surprisingly expensive political contest.
Lyssy has raised more than $99,000, while Simic has collected upwards of $79,000.
By comparison, two candidates competing in another Hillsborough school board runoff have raised approximately $80,000 between them.
Lyssy is campaigning on financial accountability and rebuilding confidence in public schools, while Simic is emphasizing teacher retention, access to education and declining enrollment.
The winner will replace outgoing board member Stacy Hahn, who is running for the County Commission.
Both candidates have been contacted by the Daily Mail for comment.