EXCLUSIVE — The Senate Leadership Fund released a new advertisement on Thursday that took a shot at Ohio Senate hopeful Sherrod Brown over what it said is his continued support for transgender surgeries for minors.
The 30-second ad features a 23-year-old detransitioner named Soren Aldaco, who recounts her personal experience with doctors practicing so-called gender-affirming care.
“After a 20-minute meeting, doctors told my parents I was transgender. That led to hormone shots, a botched double mastectomy, and years of trauma. I wasn’t born in the wrong body. I was a kid,” Aldaco said before training her focus on the Democratic candidate.
“But Sherrod Brown supports sex change surgery for minors, and admitted he would never oppose it,” she added. “After 50 years, Sherrod Brown does whatever extremists demand — anything to hold on to power, no matter the cost.”
In a 2023 interview referenced in the ad, Brown said medical decisions on transgender surgeries for children should remain between families and their doctors rather than being dictated by politicians. Ohio bans transgender surgeries and related medical treatments for minors.
Brown previously served in the Senate from 2007 to 2025, losing his reelection bid to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) in 2024. Brown is seeking to unseat Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) this time around.
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aiming to retain the Republican majority in the upper chamber this election cycle, is spending nearly $10 million while the ad runs.
“Children should never have to endure the trauma that Far-Left politicians like Sherrod Brown have inflicted,” Senate Leadership Fund communications director Chris Gustafson said. “Ohioans are sick and tired of Democrats caving to the demands of extremists and will once again reject Brown this November.”
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Brown’s campaign has repeatedly rejected Republican-led attempts tying him to transgender surgeries during the Senate race and largely focused on economic issues, such as prescription drug costs and utility rate increases.
The latest polls consistently show Brown leading Husted by single digits, except for one poll that had Husted 3 points ahead of his opponent in June. Before Ohio’s May 5 primary, the Cook Political Report changed the Senate race’s rating from “lean Republican” to a “toss up.”