Republicans are using anti-trans issues in a desperate attempt to motivate their basehttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/08/republicans-are-using-anti-trans-issues-in-a-desperate-attempt-to-motivate-their-base/ 🔗John Gallagher (31 Aug 2026)
By every account, Republicans are facing a disaster in this fall's elections. Donald Trump is incredibly unpopular and seems intent on doing everything possible to increase his party's unpopularity. The odds are very high that Republicans will lose the House, and Democrats are increasingly optimistic about capturing the Senate as well, with competitive races even in deep-red strongholds like Texas and Iowa.
Faced with looming electoral disaster, Republicans are turning to their old standby, anti-LGBTQ+ attacks. This year, the focus is on anti-trans attacks, including anti-trans ballot initiatives in four states.
"This is absolutely being used as ballot candy," Quentin Savwoir, director of programs and strategy at the left-leaning Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, said last spring.
A Fox News survey released in April found that 0% – yes, zero – cited trans issues/wokeness as their top concern. In that survey, 43% cited economic issues as the top issue, followed by corruption and the Iran War.
Now, the 0% doesn't mean that absolutely none of the 1,001 registered voters surveyed cited the issue. What it does mean is that so few responded that trans issues were a top concern that it was statistically insignificant.
Just as interesting, 56% of voters said that Democrats would handle trans issues better, compared to 43% for Republicans. For Republican candidates looking to pull some swing voters onto their side, that lopsided split isn't a good sign.---------------------------------------------
@Sarah B
