Here is proof of what I was saying. This is an issue you Republicans have clung to because it worked for you. But it's not working anymore.
Back in 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin sailed to victory in the Virginia gubernatorial largely by playing into the fears of outraged conservative parents. He had leaned into the so-called “parental rights” movement, a backlash against everything right-wing parents had been denouncing since the pandemic shut down schools: transgender students playing sports, books about the LGBTQ+ community and diversity programs. And it worked — he won handily.
In the aftermath, the Republican Party took the strategy as gospel. Across the country, lawmakers and candidates
leaned hard into a
full-fledged assault on culture war issues.
This year, Virginians largely see anti-trans rhetoric as plain old alarmist pearl-clutching from the GOP. They’re
more worried about issues like affordability and jobs — ones that the Trump administration is making worse.
“A lot of the GOP campaigns are falling short because they’re focusing on fearmongering on trans students when the economy is absolutely top of mind for voters in this state,”
Polling indicates that Virginia voters aren’t worried about trans athletes, but rather the state of the economy and threats to democracy. An October 2025
Emerson College poll found that when it came to their choice for governor, voters’ top issue was the economy, with 79% of respondents saying it was the most important issue. Education and health care were at 78% and 71% percent, respectively, followed by threats to democracy at 66%.