Four Democratic candidates locked in tight House races are running campaign ads casting themselves as defenders of girls’ sports — despite voting records showing they voted against or dodged legislation banning biological males from female competition.
The candidates — two incumbents and two state-level challengers — are financing spots claiming they’ll break with their party to protect female athletes. Their actual votes tell a different story.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), fighting to keep her seat against Republican Derek Merrin, addresses the issue directly in one ad airing across Ohio.
“I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools because parents know what’s best for their kids. And boys should not play in girls’ sports.”
The reality: Kaptur opposed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, joining 205 other Democrats against the bill. She’s also a co-sponsor of the Equality Act — legislation critics say would eliminate sex-based distinctions in athletics entirely.
Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) took a different escape route on the same vote — he voted “present” instead of taking a position. The bill passed 218-206, with two Texas Democrats breaking ranks to join Republicans.
In his own ad now airing in North Carolina, Davis claims he supports protecting women’s sports — by punting the decision to states.
“There should always be a safe and fair space for women and girls in sports,” Davis says in the spot. “That’s why I believe states should decide what’s right for protecting women and girls, and North Carolina has decided.”
At the state level, the pattern repeats.
Sarah Trone Garriott, an Iowa state senator challenging Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), claimed in her ad that she opposes “letting men in women’s locker rooms.”
Her record as a legislator: she voted against a 2022 bill barring transgender athletes from girls’ sports and a 2023 measure restricting locker-room access. Both bills were signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds.
Nunn’s campaign fired back with its own ad accusing Garriott of rewriting her record. Democratic candidate Lindsay James, running for Rep. Ashley Hinson’s vacant Iowa seat, also opposed both state measures.
The ads come as vulnerable Democrats across the map recalibrate their messaging ahead of the November midterms. Meanwhile, candidates in safer seats are moving the opposite direction — socialist nominee Claire Valdez recently affirmed a “Trans Bill of Rights” as a priority if Democrats take the House.
The political calculation is clear: 73 percent of Americans expressed concern about transgender athletes competing against their birth sex, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. Among Democrats, 55 percent are uncomfortable with the practice.
Social media users circulated the candidates’ voting records alongside the ads, questioning the timing of the sudden messaging shift just weeks before Election Day.
Dems in tight races backpedal on trans messaging – after voting to support biological men in women's sports https://t.co/ckqzMGXWTk pic.twitter.com/voj9q2Nyma
— New York Post (@nypost) October 6, 2026
Too late. Everyone, make sure to post their voting records if they try to pretend they didn't back this nonsense.
— ROAR Women NYC 💛🤍💜 (@RoarWomenNYC) October 6, 2026
