Republicans spent big on midterms ads about transgender issues – and some Democratic candidates parroted anti-trans messaging, too
Metal Hennessy, a 19-year-old trans man who lives in Kansas, quoted one of his state’s most enduring exports – The Wizard of Oz – when describing the defeat of Roger Marshall, the incumbent Republican senator, on Tuesday: “Ding dong, the witch is dead.”
This US midterm season, Kansans like Hennessy were subjected to a wave of anti-trans attacks as Marshall attempted to fight off a challenge from Democratic and Methodist megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton. The AP reported that Republicans pumped $7m into related ads, which aired 7,000 times in the state.