Republicans emphasize transgender ads, putting cultural issues over
voters' economic anxiety
[October 28, 2026]
By STEVE PEOPLES and AARON KESSLER
NEW YORK (AP) — Republicans have spent an estimated $183 million on
television ads focused on transgender-related attacks against Democrats
in the final phase of this year’s midterm elections, betting that
struggling GOP candidates can leverage the divisive cultural issue to
overcome voters' concerns about President Donald Trump's leadership and
the state of the economy.
The massive investment through Oct. 25 produced about 217,000 TV spots
nationwide and exceeds the amount Republicans spent on similar ads in
2024, a presidential election year, at the same point before Election
Day, according to tallies provided to The Associated Press by data firm
AdImpact.
The spending campaign matched messaging from other Republicans on the
campaign trail, led by Trump, who has played down surging gasoline
prices and other rising costs, but highlighted what he described as an
urgent threat to America's children from Democratic policies.
The Republican emphasis on transgender issues offers a consequential
test of whether a theme that had worked in past elections — and
especially in deep red states — can still be potent when voters
consistently say high prices are their chief concern.
Barely five minutes into his speech during Monday night’s rally in
Corinth, Mississippi, Trump said that Democrats “promote the transgender
mutilization of your children.” During his Sunday rally in Florida,
Trump said “men in women's sports” four times and gender “mutilization”
— meaning mutilation — another four times.
Having shifted away from abortion, few cultural issues reflect the
Republican Party's evolution on social issues in the age of Trump more
than transgender rights. Though a tiny number of Americans are directly
affected by legislation designed to protect transgender people from
discrimination, Republicans have used the issue as a powerful emotional
motivator, especially in Republican-leaning states where they need to
win to maintain control of Congress.
Texas’ high-stakes Senate contest alone has consumed the largest share
of Republican-backed transgender-related spending, drawing an estimated
$58 million for more than 50,000 airings, according to AdImpact. But the
GOP is also investing heavily in related attacks against Democrats in
Ohio, Kansas, South Carolina, Iowa and Mississippi, according to an AP
analysis of the data.
The Republican Party's focus stands in stark contrast to what voters say
they care most about this midterm season.
“Republicans clearly believe these issues expose a cultural disconnect
between Democratic candidates and a significant portion of the
electorate,” said Republican pollster Chris Wilson. “It's not
necessarily that transgender policy is a top voting priority, it’s that
voters can use a candidate’s position on it as a proxy for their broader
values and judgment.”
Only about 1 in 10 registered voters say transgender issues are “one of
the most important issues” in the election, according to an AP-NORC poll
from October.
That falls well below the roughly 8 in 10 who mentioned the economy or
the cost of living, and also falls short of other issues that have
surfaced during the campaign, including healthcare and the war with
Iran.
Republicans were more likely than independents and Democrats to say
transgender issues are highly important to this election, but it still
fell below other issues.
The issue resonates with voters like Jerry Casner, a 74-year-old
registered Republican and three-time Trump voter, who lives in
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He retired from a nearby Army depot and
works 12 hours a week at a grocery store in New Cumberland.
“Well, I don’t like the way the Democrats operate," Casner said, when
asked what national issues are important to him. He explained: “If you
can’t even determine the difference between a man and a woman, but yet
you’re going to make life and death decisions for me, oh, I don’t think
so. That’s disgusting.”
Casner said he plans on voting Republican up and down the ballot.
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Ahnaleigh Wilson, 17, a track athlete who says she has competed
against and placed behind transgender athletes at meets, holds a
sign for Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during a rally before
a WNBA basketball game between the Fever and the Seattle Storm,
Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
The issue is dominating these states
Republicans across federal, state and local races have aired
transgender-themed ads during the general election around 217,000
times at a cost estimated at $183 million through Oct. 25, AdImpact
found. That's up from $151 million in spending in the 2024 general
election as of the same number of days prior to that year’s
election.
Democrats have spent roughly $11 million on transgender-related ads,
largely to defend themselves from the attacks.
This year's spending was concentrated in a small number of races,
according to AdImpact.
Texas PAC, the Republican super PAC largely funded by Elon Musk and
supporting Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, has at least
three separate TV ads hammering Democrat James Talarico on trans
issues.
One of them echoes a Trump ad from the 2024 campaign with the
narrator saying that Vice President Kamala Harris is for “they,
them. President Trump is for you.” The Texas ad accuses Talarico of
supporting taxpayer funding of minors' sex-reassignment surgery,
charging that he's “for they them, not you.”
Another Texas PAC ad claims Talarico supports taxpayer funding of
gender reassignment surgery for minors, while a third accuses him of
backing child abuse charges against parents who do not support
transitioning their children.
“If you care about your children, do not vote for James Talarico,”
the narrator says in the spot that has aired nearly 17,000 times at
a cost exceeding $23 million.
In Ohio, Republican groups led by the Senate Leadership Fund PAC are
running multiple trans-themed ads against Democratic Senate
candidate Sherrod Brown.
In two of that fund's ads, someone who underwent surgery as a minor
and later de-transitioned is featured describing the regret and
accusing Brown of supporting such surgeries for minors. Another
accuses Brown of supporting “men competing in women’s sports.”
Brown's campaign said the ads were a “total lie” and a distraction
from economic issues. The independent organization PolitiFact rated
the fund's ad false.
Talarico has publicly stated that he opposes gender-reassignment
surgery for minors. And the attack against Brown twists a 2023
interview where Brown stated that a child’s medical decisions belong
between families and doctors, not politicians.
Still, the Texas ads have aired an estimated 50,000 times overall at
a cost of $58 million, representing roughly 2 in 10 ads run in the
Senate race. The Ohio attacks against Brown have cost nearly $26
million.
In deeper-red states like South Carolina, which has emerged as an
unlikely Senate battleground, Republicans have spent more than $5
million on transgender-themed ads. And in the Kansas Senate race,
Republican transgender ads have aired 7,000 times at a cost of
nearly $7 million.
“The interesting question isn’t why Republicans are running these
ads, it’s whether they’re still persuading anyone or simply
reinforcing attitudes voters already hold,” said Wilson, the
Republican pollster. “Those are two very different things, and $100
million in spending doesn’t tell us which is happening."
He added, "We’ll find that out on Election Day.”
___
Peoples reported from New York. AP writers Linley Sanders in
Washington and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed.
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