Democratic House candidates are telling voters on TV screens that they support “common-sense rules” for keeping transgender student athletes out of girls’ sports and giving greater control to parents, even going so far as to say they agree with Republicans on the hot-button cultural issue.
But their voting records from their time as state or federal lawmakers tell a different story.
Democrats in competitive seats are attempting to moderate their policy positions by cutting ads drawing red lines over transgender politics. In high-profile contests elsewhere, such as Texas, candidates have made similar backtracks in their positions on transgender athletes.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) says in an ad that she “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 line is bookended by comments about affordability, the Iran war, and inflation.
Despite the claims, the 43-year veteran of Congress voted against multiple bills that would have restricted transgender athlete participation in sports.
In Congress, she opposed bills in 2023 and 2025 to prohibit schools from allowing biological males to participate in girls’ sports and voted against a proposal in 2024 to roll back a Biden-era Education Department rule that allowed transgender athletes in women’s sports. Kaptur faces Republican former Ohio state Rep. Derek Merrin in a redrawn district that President Donald Trump would have carried by double digits in 2024.
Two Iowa congressional candidates, state Rep. Lindsay James and state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, also have similar ads and records.
James, a pastor running against Republican former state Rep. Joe Mitchell in a Cedar Rapids-anchored seat which Trump carried by 10 points, says in a 30-second spot that “children are made in the image of God” and that “we need common sense rules.” James, however, does not articulate specific plans for the issue.
“We need to protect kids, and we need common sense rules to keep sports fair, for boys and for girls,” James said. “Parents know what’s best for our kids. Washington needs to stay out of it.”
James voted against a bill that became law in 2022 to prohibit biological males in women’s sports for grade schools and college, opposed a school requirement in 2023 that students use only bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex, was against a measure that same year that would have required parents be notified if a student sought to change their gender, and opposed legislation in 2025 that, among other things, restricted the teaching of gender ideology in K-6 classrooms.
Trone Garriott’s ad says she opposes “letting men in women’s locker rooms and voted to let parents, not politicians, make decisions for their kids.” She adds that “politicians have become too extreme on these issues, and I’ll always put kids and families first.”
As a state lawmaker, Trone Garriott voted against several of the same measures, including to bar biological males from women’s sports, require students to use only bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex, and require schools to notify parents if their child asks to identify as a different gender. Trone Garriott, who is running against Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), also opposed banning gender transition surgery and other related procedures for minors in 2023.
None of the candidates’ campaigns responded to requests for comment.
The three candidates’ direct-to-camera ads underscore the thorny politics of the issue after Republicans spent millions hammering 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris over similar themes. The vice president during the campaign did not respond to those attack ads.
Now, Republicans are hoping to create that success on the cultural issue as they stare down a likely difficult midterm environment due to the Iran war and the rising costs associated with the conflict.
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The House Republican campaign arm accused the Democrats of misrepresenting their records.
“Republicans have House Democrats dead to rights after they repeatedly voted to let biological boys compete in girls’ sports,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “Now, Democrats are forced to spend their precious campaign cash on the airwaves defending their radical position and desperately lying to voters about their records because they know they’re wildly out of touch.”