Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur is leaning directly into anti-transgender messaging as she fights to hold onto her northwest Ohio congressional seat, releasing two campaign advertisements Thursday that tout her willingness to break with her own party on transgender issues.
In one ad, Kaptur argues that Republican challenger Derek Merrin is attempting to distract voters from issues including inflation and war by attacking her record. She then makes her position unmistakable.
“I voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools, because parents know what’s best for their kids,” Kaptur says, before adding that “boys should not play in girls sports.”
A second advertisement again highlights Kaptur’s independence from Democrats, grouping transgender issues alongside policing and immigration.
“I’ve repeatedly said no to my own party,” Kaptur says in the ad, including “no to teaching gender ideology in schools.”
The rhetoric marks a striking campaign strategy for a Democrat who has previously supported major LGBTQ+ civil rights legislation, including the Equality Act. Earlier this year, however, Kaptur was one of eight House Democrats who joined Republicans in voting for H.R. 2616, the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act.
The legislation would require federally funded public elementary and middle schools to obtain parental consent before changing a student’s gender markers, pronouns or preferred name on school forms or allowing changes involving sex-based accommodations such as bathrooms and locker rooms.
Kaptur’s ads arrive as transgender people are becoming an increasingly prominent subject of campaign advertising ahead of the 2026 midterms. Recent reporting from The 19th found that Elon Musk’s America PAC released at least 38 social media advertisements in less than a week, with most focusing primarily on transgender people while attacking Democratic candidates.
The Associated Press has also documented a broader debate among Democrats over transgender policy as the midterms approach, with some candidates distancing themselves from previous party positions, particularly around transgender participation in sports.
For Kaptur, the political backdrop is particularly significant.
She is facing Merrin in a rematch of their extremely close 2024 contest, which Kaptur won 48.3% to 47.6%. Ohio’s 9th District has since been redrawn with more Republican-leaning territory, making the 2026 race one of the closely watched contests for control of the House.
Ohio LGBTQ+ advocates are pushing back on Kaptur’s approach. TransOhio Executive Director Dara Adkison told The Buckeye Flame that transgender people “are not an ideology,” while Equality Ohio CEO Dwayne Steward argued that voters are more concerned with costs, housing, food and healthcare than another culture-war fight.
Whatever the electoral calculation behind the ads, transgender Ohioans are now watching a familiar political tactic come from a less familiar direction: their lives being turned into campaign messaging, this time by a Democrat emphasizing just how willing she is to break with her party on their rights.
