Republican Candidates Running as Anti-Transgender May Need to Press Reset Button

There are many conclusions to draw from yesterday's elections. Overall, it was a good day for the Democratic Party, although it will be challenging for party regulars to decide whether to support moderate or progressive candidates.  

Like the 2024 Presidential election, much of the voter discontent centered on economic issues. However, there were a few other factors that influenced some elections, including one for the Virginia governor and another in local school board races in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

As reported by ABC News, the Virginia gubernatorial candidate "Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears' campaign spent millions of dollars on ads attacking Democratic nominee and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger for her stance on transgender rights in Virginia schools."

Spanberger, who won the race, told ABC News, "We see it's about $30 million worth of attack ads against me related to trans youth," the Democrat told Katie Couric in an interview last week. "There's a real effort to engage in some level of fearmongering."

Ms. Earle-Sears hoped to ride the coattails of outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who adopted a less strident stance but emphasized parental rights to win the office in 2021. Spanberger, who will become Virginia's first elected governor, won with 57 percent to her opponent's 43 percent.

The other East Coast races, while just local school board contests, took place in the bellwether Bucks County and are of significance. Those races were for the school boards in Central Bucks and the Pennridge School Boards.

In 2021, those school districts were among many nationwide that elected board members who took an unapologetic anti-transgender stance. By 2023, voters in the Central Bucks District had had enough and, as reported by WHYY, "Democrats completed a clean sweep of the five Central Bucks School Board races, changing the balance of power in a district that has garnered national attention for book bans, anti-LGBTQ actions and rhetoric, and treatment of its students and teachers. The 6-3 Republican-majority board will now be a 6-3 Democratic majority once the newly elected candidates take oath."

Last night, two more Democratic candidates were elected to the Central Bucks District, giving them an 8-1 majority. In the Pennridge School Board races, the results were similar, with Democratic candidates winning three of the four races to achieve an 8-1 majority.

Clearly, in the politically moderate Bucks County, voters were not satisfied with the book-banning, anti-transgender school board member elected just a few years ago. Once they got an unmistakable taste of what they were dishing out, voters spit it out.

Closer to home, the Elk Grove School Board of Trustees has one representative, Heidi Moore, who, while not as strident as some school board members, has taken anti-inclusive stances. In March, Ms. Moore was the sole vote against a board resolution recognizing International Transgender Day of Visibility (see video below; a link to other videos featuring Ms. Moore can be found here).

Undoubtedly, in conservative states such as Idaho and Texas, and much of the deep south, and rural areas, book-banning and anti-transgender candidates will continue to flourish. With the exception of Moore, who won with a plurality of votes in a three-way race, an anti-transgender agenda is not a winning political platform in Elk Grove.

However, as we see in so-called purple regions, such as Bucks County and Virginia, with more moderate voters, once they understand the intent of these individuals, they are repulsed. Running on an anti-transgender platform will not disappear, but its use as a bludgeon with moderate voters is greatly diminished.