Democrats responded to anti-trans attacks this year — and won

Democrat Abigail Spanberger's decisive 2025 Virginia gubernatorial victory, particularly her strong performance in Northern Virginia's Loudoun County where she outpaced Kamala Harris's 2024 margins by 12 points, has provided Democrats with a potential blueprint for countering Republican anti-transgender attacks. While Harris's campaign struggled to respond effectively to similar attacks costing her support among key suburban voters in swing states, Spanberger directly addressed her opponent's $7-9 million anti-trans ad campaign by emphasizing her law enforcement background, her role as a mother of three daughters, and Virginia's decade-long case-by-case local approach to transgender student athletes. Unlike some prominent Democrats who distanced themselves from trans rights after Harris's loss, Spanberger maintained her values while reframing the debate around local control and keeping politics out of schools, winning not only strong majorities among trans rights supporters but also nearly a quarter of voters who felt such support had "gone too far.