Campaign ads blasting Vice President Kamala Harris over her stances on gender-ideology issues helped sway voters in favor of former President Donald Trump, according to a newly released survey.
A Cygnal poll conducted after the Nov. 5 election for the conservative American Principles Project found that voters who saw, read or heard about the Democratic candidate’s policies on transgender issues were more likely to break for Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee.
“The evidence is now incontrovertible: The culture war is a winner for Republicans,” American Principles Project President Terry Schilling said in a statement.
The poll offered support for what many political analysts have theorized: Gender-identity issues hurt Ms. Harris and helped Mr. Trump in the campaign, which saw Republicans and conservatives go on offense against Democrats over transgender rights.
For example, a memorable Trump campaign ad featured Ms. Harris and two Biden administration picks — one transgender and the other nonbinary — with the kicker, “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”
The poll found that 52.8% of respondents were familiar with the slogan. Of those, 44.8% said it made them more likely to vote for Mr. Trump, while 18.8% said it made them more likely to support Ms. Harris and 35.1% said it made no difference.
Mr. Schilling said that after years of avoiding culture issues, “the GOP under Trump finally went on offense and attacked Democrats on their radicalism, particularly on transgender issues.”
Mr. Trump won a second, nonconsecutive term in resounding fashion over Ms. Harris, capturing both the electoral and popular votes.
“The election results this year ought to speak for themselves, but as our polling shows, Republican ads had a major impact on voters, helping put Trump back into the White House and giving the GOP full control of Congress,” Mr. Schilling said.
APP’s latest polling shows that the culture war is a winner for Republicans.
— American Principles  (@approject) November 27, 2024
Americans are fed up with the Democrats’ extremism. pic.twitter.com/dsF4y3UVOr
The survey asked voters about three gender-related issues: male-to-female transgender athletes in female sports; gender-transition procedures for minors and taxpayer-funded transgender surgery for inmates. On the sports issue, 49.1% of voters were aware of Ms. Harris’ support for allowing school athletes to compete based on gender identity, and of those, 47% said the information made them more likely to vote for Mr. Trump.
And 15.7% said they were more likely to support Ms. Harris, while 34.8% said that her stance on the issue made no difference.
On gender transitions for minors, the poll found 48.8% of voters were aware of Ms. Harris’ support for “sex-change procedures for minors,” and of those, 52% said it made them more likely to vote for Mr. Trump.
Another 15.5% said it made them more likely to support Ms. Harris, while 30.7% said it made no difference.
In addition, the poll found that 57.2% of voters were familiar with Ms. Harris’ stance in favor of taxpayer-funded gender-transition procedures for prisoners.
Of those, 49.6% said that it made them more likely to vote for Mr. Trump, while 11.7% said it made them more likely to support Ms. Harris and 37.4% said it made no difference.
The survey also found that voters supported banning gender-transition procedures for minors by 47.8% to 33.7%, and banning biological men who identify as women from women’s sports by 54.2% to 26.2%.
“As the GOP prepares to take power in Washington next year, we urge them not to forget the main lesson from the election and to keep the pressure on Democrats for as long as they continue to defend their extreme agenda,” Mr. Schilling said.
The poll of adults conducted Nov. 11-13 who cast ballots in the Nov. 5 election included 48.7% who voted for Mr. Trump and 46.8% who supported Ms. Harris.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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