Republicans are campaigning against transgender athletes even in states that already ban their participation — a strategy one expert called out as the party’s “last bet” ahead of the midterm elections.
Lanae Erickson, senior vice president at the centrist Democratic advocacy group Third Way, told The 19th’s Brook Migdon that Republicans are driving the issue.
“Republicans don’t have much else to run on,” Erickson said in the report. “They’re not going to run on the economy, and the dynamics on immigration, politically, have shifted. So, this is kind of their last bet, and they are playing it literally everywhere.”
In Florida, Republican gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds has attacked Democrat David Jolly over transgender girls competing in girls’ sports, despite a statewide ban. Jolly has said he has “no plans” to change the law.
Similar attacks have surfaced in Georgia and Iowa, where restrictions are already in place.
Andrew Flores, an associate professor of government at American University, said campaigns don’t have much incentive to clarify those policies for voters.
“They’re trying to be persuasive,” he told the outlet. “They’re not trying to be fact-oriented.”
Zein Murib, an associate professor of political science at Fordham University, added that Republicans are exploiting gaps in voters’ understanding of transgender people.
“They have an opportunity to set the agenda, or at the very least exploit that lack of knowledge about trans people,” Murib said.
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