Democratic Senate candidate responds to anti-trans attacks pushed by Republicans

Dr. Annie Andrews, the Democratic Senate nominee in South Carolina and a pediatrician, released a video ad rejecting Republican efforts to make transgender athletes a wedge issue against her. Standing in a lab coat, she says she opposes biological men competing in women's sports and has never performed gender surgery on minors. The spot answers criticism from Donald Trump and a super PAC ad backing her Republican opponent, Darline Graham, which claims Andrews "is for they/them" and portrays a transgender person as a threat to a child. That language closely mirrors a pro-Trump ad aimed at Kamala Harris in 2024, according to The Guardian.

Republicans are leaning on the topic ahead of the midterms, encouraged by a Supreme Court decision this year upholding two conservative states' bans on transgender girls and women in female sports. Several Democrats in competitive races have adjusted their messaging. Representative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and Representative Don Davis of North Carolina both ran ads taking positions on fairness in girls' sports, and New York candidate Blake Gendebien said the matter never comes up locally.

The party remains split.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →