Republicans Have Spent Over US$65 Million On Anti-Trans Election Ads

During the current US Election, Republicans are reported to have spent over USD$65 million on television ads about transgender people.

In the final weeks of the presidential campaign, Trump spent big on ads attacking Kamala Harris for her support for trans people and healthcare for prisoners, framing her positions as out of touch with the concerns of everyday voters. 

The ads double-down on Trump’s viral debate moment, in which he claimed that “she [Harris] wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” 

Featuring images of celebrities like Jonathan Van Ness and Pattie Gonia – who were not informed and did not consent to be in the ads – the ads play short edited clips of Harris talking to trans people and posing with drag queens. It ends with the catchphrase “Kamala is for they/them. Donald Trump is for you.”

Pattie Gonia said she is reviewing her legal options, while using the opportunity to start a fundraiser for Trans Lifeline and Point of Pride.

$65 million for anti-trans ads, and counting

According to a recent analysis by The New York Times, Republicans have spent over USD$65 million on television advertisements addressing transgender issues since August, with many of these ads concentrating on transgender women’s access to women’s spaces such as bathrooms, locker rooms, and participation in sports.

However, spending has ramped up in recent weeks, with this latest campaign reported to cost over USD$19 million. 

“According to data compiled by AdImpact, these ads have aired more than 30,000 times, including in all seven swing states, and with a particular focus on NFL and college football broadcast audiences.” noted political correspondent Susan Davis on NPR. 

“Republican ads focusing on transgender rights are dominating airwaves all over the country.”

Anti-trans ads have also featured on a state level. The New York Times reports that ads from the Republicans about Democratic Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown has touched on transgender topics, while trans women in sports have been a topic of ads in Montana, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz has initiated a USD$7 million campaign that accuses his Democratic opponent, Colin Allred, of endorsing “boys playing in girls’ sports.”

“The hate has shifted to the trans community — they see that as an opportunity,” says Walz

“This is really an argument that is based on an impulse someone might feel. It’s hard to argue with someone’s feelings.” Montana MP Leigh Finke told the New York Times.

In an interview for the podcast We Can Do Hard Things, Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz told the hosts “We see it now; the hate has shifted to the trans community. [Republicans] see that as an opportunity. If you’re watching any sporting events right now, you see that Donald Trump’s closing arguments are to demonise a group of people for being who they are.” 

University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus told Chron, “Republicans are worried. How worried they are is sort of unknown, but the fact that they’re shifting to the kind of mobilisation phase of the campaign so early means that they want to make sure that they hit their numbers”

“Turnout is really critical, and these kinds of ads are perfectly designed to inflame and turn out base voters.”

Talking to The Advocate, Jami Taylor, a professor of policy at the University of Toledo, noted that that Trump’s recent ad mocking they/them pronouns had been especially effective among conservative voters. “You don’t attack popular things; you attack unpopular things. Right now, trans people are relatively unpopular”.

Trans issues not a priority for most voters

Despite the expense and volume of these ads, recent polling suggests that most voters – including a significant number of Republicans – do not consider trans issues a priority. 

A recent Gallup poll has shown that voters ranked transgender issues as their lowest concern compared to other pressing topics, such as the economy, climate change, and national security. 

“The election is overshadowed by corruption, authoritarianism, climate change, school shootings, the Middle East. The idea of trans rights just becomes small potatoes,” said Gwen Smith, writer and founder of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I don’t want to say that for myself, because it’s a very important issue to me. But in the greater scheme of things for the average voter, even Republican voters, it’s just not resonating.”

Chris Erchull, senior staff attorney with GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, concurred. “I don’t believe that it’s been borne out in elections that making transgender people the centre of a platform is a successful political move.”

“I don’t think most people are actually interested in attacking the rights of transgender people. They’re much more concerned about other political issues.”

Rottinghaus takes a similar view. “These issues are ephemeral. The kind of political outrage that comes from them is likely to fade in the next few years, where it’s likely to be replaced by something else in the next cycle.”  

However, as election analyst Jessica Taylor pointed out on NPR, “If it moves a small sect of voters, that could still be key.”