NJ, VA Democratic candidates face scrutiny over trans sports voting records

The New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections each feature Democratic candidates with a congressional record of supporting trans athletes in women’s sports. 

Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia have come under scrutiny in recent days for their stances on the subject. 

Spanberger was the subject of a recent viral interview with ABC13 when she was asked about trans people playing women’s and girls’ sports and using women’s bathrooms. The Democratic candidate did not take a concrete stance.

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“So in Virginia, until very recently, we have had a process in place where on an individual, one by one basis, schools, principals, parents, coaches were making decisions based on fairness, competitiveness and safety, where a child might be able or might not be able to play in a particular sport,” Spanberger said. 

When asked if she would support a bill that allows trans people in female bathrooms and sports, Spanberger said, “I would support a bill that would put clear provisions in place that provide a lot of local ability for input, based on the age of children, based on the type of sport, based on competitiveness. Because certainly I recognize, I absolutely recognize.

“I recognize the concern that families and community members might have about the safety of their own kids, about competitiveness, about fairness. And I think the process that was in place for 10 years was one that was working. It was one that took individual circumstances and individual communities into account, and I think that is the process that Virginia should continue to utilize.”

Spanberger was a co-sponsor of The Equality Act in 2021, which “prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics,” and then in 2023 she voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would have protected female athletes from trans competitors nationally. 

Meanwhile, Sherill has been the subject of criticism on social media for her congressional voting record on the issue. 

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Former University of Pennsylvania women’s swimmer and women’s sports activist Paula Scanlan, the first UPenn swimmer to speak up about the school’s Lia Thomas controversy in 2022, called out Sherrill on X over the issue this week. 

Like Spanberger, Sherrill also co-sponsored the Equality Act, but Sherrill also co-sponsored the Transgender Bill of Rights, which more explicitly “guarantees certain rights for transgender and nonbinary people with respect to public services and accommodations,” including sports teams consistent with gender identity. 

Sherrill also voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, twice, when the bill was first proposed in 2023, and again this past February when it was re-introduced. 

The New Jersey GOP attacked Sherrill for this record directly in a campaign graphic last week. 

Sherrill’s opponent, Republican Jack Ciatterelli, mentioned this issue for Sherrill in a post back in July. 

Digital has reached out to both Sherrill’s and Spanberger’s campaigns requesting clarity on why they voted the way they did on those previous bills, and whether they would enforce President Donald Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order as governor of their respective states. Neither campaign has provided a response. 

Back in January, a New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don’t think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sports. Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. 

Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. Among 1,022 Republicans, that number was 94%. 

The 81 independents who were interviewed represented the group with the most reluctance to say transgender athletes shouldn’t be allowed to compete. Just 64% said they were against it, while 26% refused to answer. Just 3% of the Democrats and 1% of the Republicans refused to answer.

Nearly 70% of Americans say biological men should not be permitted to compete in women’s sports, according to a Gallup poll last year.

Additional data suggests the issue impacted the 2024 election. 

A national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America (CWA) legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of “Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls’ and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls’ and women’s bathrooms” as important to them. And 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was “very important.”

Meanwhile, prominent Democratic figures have backpedaled on their party’s support for males in women’s sports, including Pete Buttigieg, Gavin Newsom and even Kamala Harris. 

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In her recent book “107 Days,” Harris wrote that she “agrees” with the concerns of parents and athletes who oppose letting males compete with females.

“I agree with the concerns expressed by parents and players that we have to take into account biological factors such as muscle mass and unfair student athletic advantage when we determine who plays on which teams, especially in contact sports,” Harris wrote. 

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