Annie Andrews appears to be distancing herself from her past opposition to restricting transgender athletes in girls' sports, telling Fox News Digital she opposes biological males competing in women's sports and gender transition surgeries for minors. As Democrats fight to regain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, Andrews is among a group of candidates in competitive races in red and swing states who seem to be shifting positions on transgender issues. Meanwhile, Republicans are aiming to use the highly-charged issue as a cudgel to bash Democrats for a second straight cycle.
"I don't support biological men playing in women's sports, and I don't support gender surgery on minors," Andrews told Fox News Digital. Andrews, who's locked in an increasingly competitive midterm election showdown with Republican Sen. Darline Graham in reliably red state South Carolina, delivers the same message in a new campaign commercial, adding, "I want you to hear me loud and clear." DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS FORMER - HERE ARE THREE FACTORS THAT COULD STOP IT But Graham, who was appointed to the Senate following the sudden death this summer of her older brother, longtime Sen.
Lindsey Graham, is accusing Andrews of trying to conceal her previous position on transgender athletes. Andrews "has spent years supporting biological males competing in girls’ sports. Now that she’s running for Senate, she’s trying to hide from that radical record," Graham recently charged.
Graham and Republicans point to Andrews' opposition to a 2022 South Carolina law barring transgender athletes from competing on girls' and women's public school sports teams. "This is shameful legislation that does nothing to protect or support women or children in SC. In fact, it is actively harmful.
I will always support trans youth," Andrews wrote in a social media post at the time. Republicans are seeking to once again make the issue a campaign liability. The GOP effectively blasted Democrats in the 2024 election, with President Donald Trump's campaign targeting Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris with ads declaring "Kamala is for they/them.
President Trump is for you." WHO'S UP AND WHO'S DOWN IN THE LATEST FOX NEWS MIDTERM POWER RANKINGS Republicans spent more than $200 million to run ads targeting Democrats on the transgender issue in the 2024 campaign, arguably helping the GOP to sweeping victories. The latest national polls indicate that most Americans oppose transgender athletes playing on sports teams that don’t match their birth sex. More than three-quarters (76%) of those questioned in a Fox News national poll conducted last month backed banning biological men from competing in women's sports, with one in five opposed.
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