” How “wildly successful” anti-trans ads fired up Texas voters for Republicans ” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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In the final weeks of a heated reelection campaign, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz released a television ad with a simple message — “Boys and girls: They’re different.”
In the ad, Cruz accused his Democratic challenger, Colin Allred, of wanting boys to play on girls’ sports teams. Allred released his own ad vehemently denying the claim. Neither mentioned that the Texas Legislature had already banned student athletes from playing on teams that didn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth.
Even before the votes rolled in, the fact that Texas’ senate candidates were arguing about youth sports, rather than the economy, immigration or the future of democracy itself, was a Republican victory. For years, conservative political strategists had been pushing the party to hammer Democrats on what they see as “extreme” stances on gender.