Four Democratic candidates in close House races are airing ads defending girls’ sports after opposing or sidestepping bills that kept biological males out of female competition.
The spots cast the candidates as willing to break with their party to protect female athletes. Their voting records tell a different story, a Breitbart report published Monday laid out.
The ads arrive as vulnerable Democrats recalibrate messaging ahead of the November midterms. Incumbents and challengers in Ohio, North Carolina, and Iowa are suddenly talking about fair play for women and girls, after opposing or ducking the very bills that would have locked that standard into law.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the Ohio Democrat in a tight race against Republican Derek Merrin, is financing a commercial that puts her on the side of parents and female athletes.
In the ad, Kaptur says:
"I 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,"
That line collides with her roll call on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Kaptur opposed the bill and joined 205 other members of her caucus against it. The measure passed 218-206, with two Texas Democrats joining Republicans.
Kaptur is also a co-sponsor of the Equality Act. Critics of that legislation say it would wipe out sex-based distinctions in athletics, the opposite of the promise in her new commercial.
Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina took a different path on the same House bill. He voted “present” rather than yes or no. Now he is on the air arguing for a safe and fair space for women and girls.
Davis says in his ad:
"There should always be a safe and fair space for women and girls in sports,"
He follows with a states’-rights frame:
"That’s why I believe states should decide what’s right for protecting women and girls, and North Carolina has decided."
The commercial leans on a decision already made in Raleigh. It does not explain why Davis declined to take a side when the U.S. House voted on a national standard for the same question.
In Iowa, state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott is challenging Rep. Zach Nunn. Her ad claims she opposes “letting men in women’s locker rooms.”
As a legislator, Garriott voted against a 2022 bill barring transgender athletes from girls’ sports. She also voted against a 2023 measure restricting locker-room access. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed both.
Nunn’s campaign answered with its own spot accusing Garriott of rewriting her record. The exchange puts the paper trail in front of voters who heard the softer ad first.
Lindsay James, the Democrat running for the open seat left by Rep. Ashley Hinson, opposed both of those Iowa measures as well. The same two bills, athlete eligibility in 2022 and locker-room rules in 2023, now sit as a clear marker against the new campaign tone coming from Democrats in competitive races.
A Pew Research Center analysis found 73 percent of Americans expressed concern about transgender athletes competing against their birth sex. Even among Democrats, 55 percent said they were uncomfortable with the practice.
Those numbers help explain the sudden shift in paid media. Candidates in toss-up districts are racing toward a position most voters already hold. Democrats in safer seats are not making the same move. Socialist nominee Claire Valdez recently affirmed a “Trans Bill of Rights” as a priority if Democrats take the House, a reminder of where the party’s activist wing still wants to go.
The contrast is blunt. In districts where every vote counts, the message is girls’ sports and locker-room privacy. In safer territory, the priority list still elevates expansive transgender policy. Voters can see which incentive is driving which script.
Kaptur’s “no” on the House sports bill, Davis’s “present” vote, and the Iowa “no” votes from Garriott and James are not ancient history. The House tally is on the record at 218-206. The Iowa bills are signed state law. Co-sponsorship of the Equality Act is still attached to Kaptur’s name.
Campaign ads can talk about parents, fairness, and what North Carolina has decided. They cannot erase the roll calls that came first. Users on X circulated those voting records and questioned the timing as soon as the spots landed, another sign the gap between message and history is not hard to find.
The midterms will test whether a late conversion on girls’ sports outweighs years of opposition or avoidance. In Ohio, North Carolina, and Iowa, the candidates now sound like defenders of female competition. Their own votes show how recently that defense began.
When the ads say one thing and the roll call says another, voters get to decide which one counts.
