Democrats are heading into the 2026 midterms confronting a debate that has divided their party and repeatedly put candidates on the defensive: transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

Some candidates now oppose that participation, while others defend decisions by sports organizations — approaches that have exposed disagreements over policy and campaign strategy.

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico voted against House Bill 25 in 2021, which required public-school athletes to compete based on the sex recorded on their birth certificates at or near birth. The measure became law despite Democratic opposition.

During a September Fox News interview, Talarico said he would oppose transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports when participation threatened safety or fairness. He defended his earlier opposition to restrictions as a response to overly broad legislation, saying he favored allowing local communities to make eligibility decisions.

"As a former public school teacher, James cares about our student athletes — that’s why throughout his career he has opposed trans athletes playing girls’ sports when it jeopardizes safety or fairness," campaign spokesperson JT Ennis told OutKick on Tuesday.

"At the same time, he’ll always stand against discrimination, especially when the most powerful politicians in the country bully students to score political points, because his faith teaches him that every child is made in the image of God." Talarico's campaign has not responded to questions on whether he would vote in favor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.

Talarico’s Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has pursued legal action to exclude transgender athletes from women’s competition. In December 2024, he sued the NCAA, alleging that marketing competitions as women’s events while permitting athletes of the male sex violated Texas consumer-protection law.

Paxton sought an injunction barring their participation in women’s events in Texas or involving Texas teams, or requiring the NCAA to stop marketing those competitions as women’s sports.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has previously advocated for transgender students’ access to sports teams matching their gender identity.

During his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he told Pride Source that state-level efforts should protect young people’s access to bathrooms, locker rooms and "sports teams of choice," arguing that exclusion could worsen bullying and mental-health problems.

"To me, I think it's really important for us to fight at the state level to protect access to bathrooms, to locker rooms, to sports teams of choice for young people," he said.

"The consequence here that we don't appreciate is that not only are you otherizing people who usually have a much harder time in school because of the risk of bullying as a function of gender identity, but also the mental health consequences of this are real." Asked about transgender athletes in women’s sports during an August 2026 Fox News interview, El-Sayed said eligibility should be "decided by the people who govern sports." He sought to redirect the discussion toward healthcare and affordability, without specifying the eligibility restrictions he would support. El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, supports excluding athletes of the male sex from girls’ and women’s competition.

During his 2024 Senate campaign, Rogers signed Independent Women’s Voice’s Stand With Women Commitment, pledging to support legislation preserving female opportunities and private spaces. "Biological men should not be competing with our daughters, period," he said when announcing the commitment.

North Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Roy Cooper vetoed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act as governor in July 2023. The legislation prohibited athletes of the male sex from competing on girls’ and women’s middle-school, high-school and college teams, defining sex by reproductive biology and genetics at birth.

"We don’t need politicians inflaming their political culture wars by making broad, uninformed decisions about an extremely small number of vulnerable children that are already handled by a robust system that relies on parents, schools and sports organizations," Cooper wrote in his veto message at the time. The state's GOP supermajority overrode his veto that August.

Cooper’s Republican opponent, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, supports North Carolina’s restrictions on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports and has criticized Cooper’s veto.

At a September campaign event in Pittsboro, Whatley praised legislation enacted over Cooper’s opposition and accused the former governor of prioritizing transgender participation over protections for female athletes.

Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff voted against advancing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in March 2025. The legislation would have prohibited federally funded educational institutions from allowing athletes of the male sex to compete in sports designated for women or girls.

Ossoff defended his 2025 vote by calling the bill an overreach. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that school districts and athletic associations could ensure safe, fair competition without subjecting children’s bodies to intrusive federal investigation.

In March 2026, he also voted against advancing a transgender sports restriction offered as an amendment to the SAVE America Act.

Ossoff’s Republican opponent, Rep. Mike Collins, voted for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act when it passed the House in January 2025. The legislation would prohibit federally funded educational institutions from allowing athletes of the male sex to compete in sports designated for women or girls. Collins has also highlighted his opposition to transgender participation in women’s sports during his Senate campaign.

Minnesota’s Democratic Senate nominee, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, has committed to supporting the Transgender Bill of Rights, according to the Christopher Street Project’s executive director. The nonbinding resolution calls for federal protections against gender-identity discrimination throughout school life, explicitly including athletics and access to facilities.

Flanagan received the organization’s endorsement and told The Advocate that Democrats should defend communities under attack. In September, her campaign criticized Tafoya’s sports stance without specifying how Flanagan would vote on federal restrictions.

Flanagan’s Republican opponent, former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, has made restricting male athletes from female sports a campaign priority. Her platform promises to "keep men out of women’s sports and locker rooms." Tafoya has also criticized the WNBA’s handling of the debate and publicly supported Sophie Cunningham’s advocacy on the issue. Her campaign position establishes support for restrictions on both competition and locker-room access, although her platform does not identify a specific sports bill she would introduce.

Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson voted in June 2023 to reject LD 930, legislation whose proposed amendment would have limited girls’ secondary-school sports teams to students of the female sex. As Senate president, Jackson supported accepting the committee’s recommendation that the bill not pass.

In an April 2026 questionnaire during his gubernatorial campaign, he answered "No" to a question combining a transgender sports ban with dismantling other Maine Human Rights Act protections. Jackson subsequently received EqualityMaine’s endorsement, but those positions leave questions about what specific eligibility restrictions, if any, he would support in Congress.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins has explicitly supported excluding transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. She voted to advance the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in March 2025 and a similar amendment offered by Sen. Tommy Tuberville in March 2026.

Explaining the latter vote, Collins said her longstanding position was that "transgender athletes should not compete in girls’ and women’s athletics." She cited fairness, safety and athletic opportunities for female competitors, arguing that Title IX’s protections should rest on sex rather than gender identity.

New Hampshire Democratic Senate nominee Chris Pappas voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in January 2025, after opposing an earlier version in April 2023. The legislation would prohibit federally funded schools from allowing athletes of the male sex to compete in sports designated for women or girls.

TRANS ATHLETES DROP LAWSUIT TO GAIN ACCESS TO GIRLS' SPORTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AFTER SCOTUS RULING Following his 2023 vote, Pappas called the legislation part of a series of "bigoted, harmful attacks on the transgender community." He argued that excluding transgender students from sports would harm students and their communities, emphasizing that all students should have opportunities to participate in school athletics.

Pappas’ Republican opponent, former Sen. John E. Sununu, supports restrictions on transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

In a June campaign statement welcoming the Supreme Court’s ruling allowing state restrictions, Sununu argued that protecting female athletes’ opportunities was consistent with Title IX’s purpose. He also criticized Pappas’ opposition to legislation restricting transgender participation, framing the issue around safety and the integrity of women’s athletics.

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic nominee in Ohio’s Senate special election, opposed federal funding restrictions targeting schools that allow transgender girls and women to compete on female teams.

In March 2021, Brown voted against a procedural motion to advance an amendment that would have withheld certain education funding from states, school districts and colleges permitting male athletes to participate in girls’ and women’s sports.

In March 2024, he voted to table another proposal restricting funding over transgender participation. His campaign defended those votes as protecting Ohio schools’ funding and said Brown supported a fair process for athletics.

A 2024 campaign also endorsed leaving eligibility decisions to local sports leagues rather than politicians. Those positions establish opposition to the federal measures, but leave unanswered which specific eligibility restrictions Brown would support.

Brown’s Republican opponent, Sen. Jon Husted, supports excluding transgender girls and women from female sports teams. As Ohio’s lieutenant governor, Husted backed House Bill 68, which included restrictions on transgender participation in school and college sports, saying, "Men should not compete in women’s sports." In March 2025, Husted voted to advance the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would prohibit federally funded education programs from permitting male athletes to participate in sports designated for women or girls and define sex by reproductive biology and genetics at birth. The measure failed to secure the votes necessary to advance.

THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!

Iowa Democratic Senate nominee Josh Turek, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair basketball, has publicly opposed male athletes competing against females. "I don’t believe that biological males should compete against females in sports," Turek told The New York Times in July.

However, he has also argued that eligibility decisions should rest with sports governing organizations rather than Congress or the courts. His legislative record includes a March 2023 vote against requiring students to use school bathrooms and changing facilities corresponding to their sex at birth. That legislation addressed access to facilities rather than eligibility for female teams.

Turek’s Republican opponent, Rep. Ashley Hinson, supports federal legislation excluding transgender girls and women from female school sports teams.

In January 2025, Hinson voted for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would prohibit federally funded education programs from allowing male athletes to compete in sports designated for women or girls and determine sex through reproductive biology and genetics at birth. Her office described the legislation as protecting the integrity of girls’ sports.