10/17/2026
Finally, there’s a Democratic candidate this cycle who’s responding to the anti-trans attack ads with both decency and political acumen.
Elon Musk’s PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, and Republican candidates have blanketed the country with political ads full of ludicrous claims about Democrats and trans people. Desperately hoping to salvage their floundering campaigns in a year when pollsters say a blue wave is inevitable, they’re accusing opponents of what amounts to crimes against children. It’s a tactic used against LGBTQ people for centuries. Anita Bryant would be proud.
Some Democrats have opted to play into the Republican tactic despite mounting evidence that the strategy doesn’t work. Sherrod Brown, a former Ohio senator seeking to win back a seat in a state that has steadily leaned more conservative, has broken with the crowd; despite the GOP’s massive financial advantage and larger base, a recent New York Times/Siena poll shows Brown leading the incumbent, Jon Husted, 49% to 46%.
According to the Republican campaign ads, Democrats want elephantine girls competing against delicate little girls in sports. They want to hold down little boys, shove hormones down their throats, and surgically turn them into delicate girls. Trans girls are either emasculated or too masculine; either way, the misogyny stays the same.
The ads aren’t just ugly. They’re false. Multiple attack ads in the Ohio race have featured Soren Aldaco, a young woman who said she had breast removal surgery as a child and now has regrets; she claims Brown supports it.
“Surgery without my parents’ consent,” she says in one ad. “I was a kid.”
“Sherrod Brown supports s*x changes for minors, irreversible surgery on kids like me,” Aldaco claims in another.
In response, Brown has aired his own ad, while the media is pointing out that Aldaco is from Texas and not Ohio, and that she wasn’t a minor when she opted to have the surgery. Brown’s campaign ad sharply accuses the Republican candidate of trying to dupe voters.
“Here they go again, those same attacks against Sherrod Brown. With everything going on, that’s what they’re talking about. In Ohio, it’s against the law to perform transgender surgeries on kids. That’s right, it’s illegal,” the voiceover points out.
“But Jon Husted?” it continues. “He protected men who abused young girls by voting in the Senate to block the release of the Epstein files. Maybe that’s because Husted took over $116,000 from associates of Jeffrey Epstein—10 times more than any other senator. Jon Husted should be ashamed.”
Instead of repeating Republicans’ allegations, Brown simply points out that it’s a made-up issue meant to hide Husted’s bad behavior. That lets him change the topic and air his own allegation, one that resonates with both Democrats and Republicans. The GOP spent years building up the Epstein files, and Brown turned it against them.
See why this strategy is devastatingly effective in today's column for my newsletter, Tummy Ache Nation. Subscriptions are free, but paid subscribers get some gossip from a prominent Democrat pollster about the ads.
The link is in the comments section.
