Numerous Democratic midterm candidates have previously made anti-trans statements or voted for anti-trans legislation. Trans journalist Erin Reed published a list yesterday of these candidates and advised her followers not to vote for them, lest their victories convince the Democratic Party “that throwing transgender people under the bus is a winning strategy,” Reed wrote.

Reed’s list only included Democrats running in federal and statewide races, and noted that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) endorsed some candidates who had made anti-trans votes or statements. She warned that if these candidates win and transphobia becomes a permanent Democratic Party value — as it has with the UK’s ostensibly left-of-center Labour Party — “there will never be enough lawmakers who both hold power and support trans rights to repeal the damage” of federal anti-trans policies supported by Democratic legislators.

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The gubernatorial candidates included in Reed’s list are Xavier Becerra of California, who said trans people have no constitutional right to play sports; Aaron Ford of Nevada, who voiced opposition to trans athletes; and Amy Acton of Ohio, who supports her state’s anti-trans sports bans and subsequently skipped a listening session that her campaign scheduled with trans advocates.

Polls show that Becerra is likely to win his race, Ford is lagging behind his Republican competitor, and Acton is neck and neck with her intensely transphobic competitor, Vivek Ramaswamy. 

Reed noted that Equality Ohio gave Acton a “B” designation on its candidate scorecard, indicating her “insufficient record but supportive public statements,” but added that Acton has made no public statements supporting trans people beyond stating that she “will always stand up for Ohioans, including the LGBT community.”

Reed’s list also includes three U.S. Senate candidates who, according to recent polls, are all in competitive races: Mary Peltola (AK), who was one of six Democrats to vote for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which contained anti-trans and anti-DEI provisions; Josh Turek (IA), who opposes trans girls and women competing in girls’ and women’s sports; and Sherrod Brown (OH), who released a 2024 ad saying he didn’t vote to “let transgender biological men participate in women’s sports.”

The list includes the following Democratic U.S. House candidates who are highly likely to win their races, according to recent polling: Terri Sewell (AL), John Mannion (NY), Colin Allred (TX), and Kim Schrier (WA). 

Two of the highest-profile U.S. House candidates on the list are Henry Cuellar (TX), who has reportedly voted for nearly every anti-trans bill or provision; and Eugene Vindman (VA), who voted for several anti-trans bills, including the “Stoping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act,” which included provisions to end federal funding for schools with trans-inclusive student policies — polling shows that both are highly likely to win their races.

Polling also shows that the following Democratic candidates are in highly competitive races: Don Davis (NC), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Vicente Gonzalez (TX), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA), and Laura Gillen (NY).

Why the HRC endorses Dems with anti-trans records

Reed noted that the HRC endorsed U.S House candidates Shomari Figures (AL), Susie Lee (NV), Tom Suozzi (NY), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA), who had all made anti-trans votes or statements. 

In response to Reed’s inquiry, the HRC said that if it limited its endorsements only to “candidates who never take a vote we oppose, we would likely never make progress.”

“Our theory of change is that we need to meet people where they are and move them towards support for our community,” the HRC said, adding that increasing Democratic opposition to anti-trans legislation “only happened because there were members of Congress willing to learn and to stand up for transgender people in the face of political divisions and bigotry.”

However, Reed noted that the aforementioned HRC-endorsed candidates “have not recanted their anti-trans statements or their anti-trans votes.” She suggested that the HRC withhold or withdraw such endorsements for candidates with anti-trans positions.

Without such consequences, Reed warned that the HRC risks “having their goals co-opted and becoming merely another branch of the Democratic Party,” viewed with skepticism by the “the millions of trans Americans who are concerned about recession of their rights.”