Republicans Revive Anti-Transgender Messaging in 2022 Senate Races, Aligning with Trump’s Policies

In a strategic move following North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s announcement to run for Senate, a pro-Republican group launched an ad that echoes last year’s presidential campaign rhetoric on transgender issues.

Entitled “Cooper sides with they/them,” the advertisement, produced by the Senate Leadership Fund, targets Cooper based on his stance on transgender rights, mirroring a key attack line from the 2020 presidential race. Republicans are leveraging this narrative in upcoming elections, wagering that anti-trans messaging will counter Democratic candidates running on GOP-led policies such as Medicaid cuts and parts of former President Trump’s policy bill.

During the previous election, Trump allies invested millions in an ad criticizing Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominee, for her commitment to providing gender transition treatment to detained immigrants, according to federal law including surgical care. The ad sarcastically mocked non-binary individuals’ preferred pronouns, declaring “Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.”

This ad has been widely recognized as a significant factor shaping the campaign and is now being replicated in North Carolina and Georgia’s competitive Senate races. Transgender issues have also surfaced in this year’s Virginia gubernatorial race.

An ad targeting Sen. Jon Ossoff was aired during a basketball game, referencing the broadcast, stating, “Man-to-man defense isn’t woke enough for Ossoff – he’s playing for they/them. Call and tell Sen. Ossoff, stop dunking on defenseless girls.” This ad was backed by over $350,000 from an affiliate of the Senate Leadership Fund.

Chris LaCivita, Trump’s 2024 co-campaign manager, defended the use of such messaging, explaining that it aimed to increase vote share among men, Hispanics, and mothers. LaCivita emphasized that the ads achieved their desired results in the 2024 campaign.

Democrats argue that Republicans are employing transgender issues as a distraction from more pressing economic concerns. Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democrats’ House campaign arm, stated, “Republicans have given in to the most extreme fringes of their party by abandoning pocketbook issues in favor of an anti-freedom agenda that is obsessed with letting politicians make decisions that should be left to parents and doctors.”

The Trump administration has taken steps across government to restrict transgender rights, including removing trans individuals from the military and ordering investigations into hospitals providing medical services for transgender children. The White House often promotes these actions against trans-friendly policies on social media.

Transgender individuals make up less than 0.6% of the US population aged 13 and above, according to the Williams Institute, a research center focused on sexual orientation and gender identity at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

The upcoming Senate elections in North Carolina and Georgia are anticipated to be highly competitive contests in next year’s midterms. In both races, Republicans are launching transgender-focused attacks against Democrats, focusing on policies regarding youth sports participation and bathroom access.

In North Carolina, the GOP criticized Cooper for championing “radical transgender ideology” and vetoing bills aimed at keeping men out of women’s sports. In Georgia, one of Ossoff’s challengers, Rep. Buddy Carter, released an ad featuring a person wearing a dress and a wig complaining that Carter had helped Trump ban people like them from competing in women’s sports.

Ossoff’s campaign spokesperson Ellie Dougherty countered that Republicans were attempting to divert attention from Trump’s budget law after facing backlash for gutting Medicaid and defunding hospitals in Georgia.

Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee for governor in Virginia, has also been targeting her Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger with attacks centered on transgender policies, as Republicans search for an opening in the challenging off-year race.

Earle-Sears publicized a statement last week stating that Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, “think your daughter should compete and share a locker room with biological men.”

Sam Newton, communications director for the Democratic Governors Association, argued that state-level party leaders had successfully navigated similar attacks from Republicans in recent elections.

“In battleground and red-state races for governor in 2022, 2023, and 2024, voters consistently rejected Republicans who made clear they only cared about stoking division with culture wars in favor of Democratic candidates who won by staying laser-focused on addressing the biggest issues impacting working families every single day. This cycle will be no different,” Newton said.

The transgender-themed ads come as some potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates have publicly debated their stance on trans female athletes competing in women’s sports. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a possible candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2028, told conservative influencer Charlie Kirk on his podcast in March that transgender athletes participating in women’s sports was “deeply unfair.”

Pete Buttigieg, another potential 2028 contender, also expressed sympathy for conservative complaints about transgender sports policies in an interview on NPR this week. However, others have advocated for resolve and have worked to build up infrastructure to support pro-transgender policies. The Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ rights organization, is planning a series of town halls in red-state cities over the summer aimed at supporting LGBTQ individuals and policies.

The Christopher Street Project, a PAC formed earlier this month to endorse and raise funds for candidates advocating for pro-transgender policies, has released a list of 16 initial endorsees including Rep. Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, and prominent Democrats such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pramila Jayapal, Katherine Clark, and Jamie Raskin.

During an interview last month at the Center for American Progress, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, advised his party to avoid appearing “weak” and backing down to Republicans on transgender issues.

One minor Democratic candidate for California governor attempted to turn the tables on Trump and Republicans with their own line. The ad from Stephen Cloobeck’s campaign shows Trump’s photo next to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

“Trump is for they/them,” the narrator says, with the names of Epstein and Maxwell highlighted. “Stephen Cloobeck is for you.”