Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly released a new campaign ad in which she says men don’t belong in women’s sports, hoping to weaken Republican efforts to seize on a key education issue as a way to hurt the Democratic governor’s reelection chances.
Republicans have sought to highlight Kelly’s vetoes of the state legislature’s proposals to ban transgender athletes from participating in female sports, hoping to use the incumbent’s voting record to hurt her reelection bid. In the 30-second ad released Wednesday, Kelly doesn’t go into detail about her stance on the issue but simply stated that “of course, men should not play girls sports. OK. We all agree there.”
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Her campaign later clarified that Kelly believes those decisions should be made by schools, doctors, and local government boards rather than the state, according to the Associated Press. As a result, Kelly vetoed two bills introduced by the state legislature over the last few years because they would have “created unnecessary new government mandates.”
Democrats have come to Kelly’s defense, arguing voters would understand her ad as saying men don’t belong in female sports because transgender women should be considered women.
“Men aren’t playing girls sports. This is the scare-tactic framing of the far right,” Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas, told the outlet. “What we’re talking about in this situation is school kids in competitive games with their peers at school, and our position is, trans girls are girls; trans boys are boys.”
However, Republicans have accused the Democratic governor of lying about her voting record, arguing Kelly is trying to conceal an unpopular stance.
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“Liberal Laura Kelly, in a desperate new ad, says ‘of course’ men should not play women’s sports. But she vetoed Fairness in Women’s Sports TWICE,” said Derek Schmidt, Kelly’s Republican challenger in the governor’s race, in a tweet. “She’s been with Biden on this for years, now at reelection time she lies. Kansans know it, and will vote her out.”
Kelly’s ad comes after the Republican Governors Association launched an ad series seeking to tie the Democratic governor to “the transgender agenda,” featuring several student-athletes who criticized proposals allowing transgender athletes to compete in female sports. The issue has taken center stage in the Kansas governor’s race as Republicans seek to elevate the issue to appeal to more centrist voters.
