Are Anti-Trans Measures Being Used as Republican “Ballot Candy”?
Republican officials in several states are advancing ballot initiatives targeting transgender rights, such as bans on gender-affirming care and participation in school sports, to energize voters in upcoming elections. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo openly described these measures as tools to increase voter turnout, calling them 'ballot candy.' Similar strategies are emerging in states like Missouri, where anti-trans provisions are bundled with abortion restrictions to sway public support.
- ▪Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo admitted he planned to use anti-trans ballot initiatives to boost voter turnout.
- ▪Six transgender-related ballot measures have been approved for voting in Colorado, Maine, Missouri, and Washington, with more in development in Nebraska, Arizona, and Nevada.
- ▪In Missouri, a proposed constitutional amendment combines a near-total abortion ban with a ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
- ▪A February 2024 poll found that two-thirds of likely Missouri voters support banning gender transition treatments for minors.
- ▪Quentin Savwoir of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center stated that anti-trans measures are being used as 'ballot candy' to drive Republican voter engagement.
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freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: "motherjones_right_rail_1", slotId: "ROS_ATF_300x600" }); Mother Jones illustration; Getty Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. At a fundraiser in early January, Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo outright admitted to donors he wasn’t the most inspiring candidate. “I am not enough of a motor—uh, a motivator—as a governor candidate to get them off the couch,” he said on a recording obtained by the Nevada Independent. “We have a couple ballot initiatives we’re going to initiate in order to get voters out,” Gov. Lombardo reassured the room. But the governor had a plan to fix it.
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