Republican Ads in Texas Target LGBTQ+ Legislation Amidst Election Campaign
WASHINGTON — This fall, Congressional Republicans are focusing their television ad campaigns on Texas Democrats’ support for pro-LGBTQ+ legislation, investing millions with the belief that this issue will resonate more with voters than traditional concerns like the border and the economy.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) launched its first Texas ad of the general election on Tuesday, targeting U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, for allegedly advocating “sex changes for kids.” On the same day, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, revealed his campaign’s largest ad buy to date, with two ads accusing challenger U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, of supporting legislation that allows men to use women’s restrooms and failing to recognize “the difference between boys and girls.”
Democrats and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have condemned these ads, arguing they propagate dangerous and misleading narratives about transgender youth. Both Gonzalez and Allred have stated that the ads misrepresent their positions.
“The rhetoric is truly alarming, and trans Texans have dealt with a lot. They don’t need their lives politicized,” said Johnathan Gooch, communications director at Equality Texas, an LGBTQ+ political rights group. “I think most Texans care about their grocery bill more than they care about anything else.”
Democrats are skeptical about the focus on LGBTQ+ issues, suggesting that voters are more concerned with the economy and border security, as indicated by polling and focus groups.
“Voters won’t fall for baseless and desperate lies about Vicente Gonzalez’s record,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Lauryn Fanguen. “While Mayra Flores voted against lowering health care and drug costs and would jeopardize Social Security and Medicare, Vicente Gonzalez is working every day to lower costs for Valley families.”
The magnitude of the ad buys reflects the importance Republicans place on this message as part of their electoral strategy. Cruz’s campaign stated that the two ads are part of a $6.7 million ad buy in coordination with the Republican Party of Texas, marking the campaign’s largest ad buy so far. Previously, Cruz announced a $4.4 million investment in Hispanic outreach in July, which included broadcast advertising, digital outreach, billboards, text messaging, and phone banking.
The NRCC’s ad against Gonzalez is their first in Texas this cycle, targeting a high-priority seat. Former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores is challenging Gonzalez for the South Texas seat. The ad is part of an $800,000 ad reservation in the Harlingen market and will be broadcast in both English and Spanish.
Republicans have also heavily invested in ads focusing on the border and economy, issues that were prominent during the primaries and continue to attract voter attention. However, the NRCC found that messages linking Gonzalez to gender transition surgeries for minors performed best in converting support for Flores, based on their polling and focus groups.
Polling by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs revealed that most Texans have unfavorable views toward allowing transgender individuals to choose their bathrooms, participate in women’s sports, and receive gender-affirming care under 18. However, over 70% of Texans support general protections against discrimination for LGBTQ+ people, according to the Public Religion Research Institute.
This strategy extends beyond Texas. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley released an ad this week featuring Riley Gaines, a competitive swimmer who has advocated against trans women in women’s sports.
The NRCC ad features a man accusing Gonzalez of prioritizing youth gender transitions over economic issues. “How is that supposed to help our economy? He says, ‘Vicente con la gente.’ He’s not,” the ad states.
Gonzalez, a moderate Democrat who has previously voted with Republicans, stated to The Texas Tribune that he “never supported tax dollars paying for gender transition surgeries and never will.”
“If [Flores] wants to talk about things that actually hurt South Texans’ wallets, she should mention how she’s opposed lowering drug costs and healthcare prices — how she supports defunding Social Security and Medicare. Let’s let the record speak for itself,” Gonzalez said.
The ad references Gonzalez’s support for the Equality Act, which prohibits gender discrimination in public places, including protections for transgender individuals. The bill passed the House in 2021 with unanimous Democratic support but has stalled in the Senate.
According to a July study by Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, child gender transition surgery is exceedingly rare. Gender-affirming care for minors typically involves allowing children to dress how they wish, changing pronouns, and using hormone blockers to delay puberty. The Texas Legislature passed a ban on hormone blockers for minors during last year’s session.
Cruz’s ad also criticized Allred’s support for the Equality Act and his vote against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, which would cut federal funding for athletic programs that allow men, “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” to compete in women’s sports. This bill passed the House in 2023 with unanimous Republican support and unanimous Democratic opposition, but it too has stalled in the Senate.
“Now our girls are being left in the dust, robbed of their right to compete freely. And Colin Allred voted in Congress to oppose Texas state law that protects women’s sports,” the ad said. “Colin Allred voted to allow boys in girls’ bathrooms, boys in girls’ locker rooms, boys in girls’ sports.”
Allred’s campaign called the ads a “disgusting, false attack, and another example of how Ted Cruz only wants to divide Texans.”
“Cruz will say anything to distract from his dangerous abortion ban that is putting women’s lives at risk, trying to raise the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare and fleeing to Cancun during a deadly winter storm,” said Josh Stewart, an Allred spokesperson.
Allred has been an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in Congress, co-sponsoring a resolution to establish a “Transgender Bill of Rights to protect and codify the rights of transgender and nonbinary people under the law and ensure their access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security.”
This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune
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