Ted Cruz’s re-election campaign has poured resources into attack ads that focus on transgender participation in youth sports. His Democratic opponent, Representative Chris Allred, responded with his own ad.
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Republican campaigns across the nation have sought to make gains by putting transgender issues at the center of their campaigns.
For weeks now, Texans watching television, including during prime time football games, have seen ads from the re-election campaign of Senator Ted Cruz declaring: “Boys in girls sports, that’s not right.”
The Cruz campaign, like others supporting Republican candidates across the nation, has been pouring resources into attack ads that focus on transgender participation in youth sports.
Mr. Cruz’s ads do not directly address transgender youth — and mostly even avoid the term — but instead attack his Democratic opponent, Representative Colin Allred, over fairness in youth sports as well as his vote against a Republican bill last year to require participation to be based on birth sex.
A super PAC supporting Mr. Cruz has taken the same approach in an ad that portrays a hulking figure in a shirt with the name “Allred” on the back tackling a girl. The Republican Party of Texas has also been sending anti-trans mailers in Mr. Cruz’s race, as well as in other close contests, including a Republican challenge to Representative Vicente Gonzalez, a South Texas Democrat.
ImageAn ad for Senator Ted Cruz’s campaign declares, “Boys in girls sports, that’s not right,” and attacks his Democratic opponent, Representative Chris Allred, who has supported gay and transgender rights. Credit…Tom Brenner for The New York Times
Advisers to Mr. Cruz said they had found that the messaging resonated with persuadable voters, particularly parents, and that it was more effective not to focus on transgender children themselves, which could engender empathy from viewers, but instead on fairness.
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Source: nytimes.com
