Polling released today from Data For Progress shows just how ineffective and unpopular the anti-transgender ads being run by MAGA candidates really are with voters.

Key findings from the poll back up the long-supported claims that anti-transgender rhetoric is not what wins elections:

• The use of political attack ads against transgender people was described as “sad and shameful” by the majority of Democrats (61%) and Independents (58%), and even by a plurality of Republicans (41%). The majority of voters also said that they feel that these ads are “mean-spirited” and “out of hand”

• 85% of Republicans said candidates should back away from transgender messaging, more than the share of Democratic (75%) and independent (82%) voters who said the same

• By a more than 20 point margin (52% to 31%), voters would back a candidate who supports transgender rights versus a candidate who opposes transgender rights; by similar margins (52% to 29%), voters trust the Democratic Party over the Republican Party to handle transgender issues

In addition, a study from Ground Media found that a recent Trump anti-trans advertisement yielded “no statistically significant shift” in voter choice, mobilization or likelihood to vote.

It’s not just the ads that voters dislike, it’s also the policies. Data for Progress found that among likely voters:

• Nearly three in four (74%) say that transgender people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect

• 58% of respondents believe the government should be “less involved in regulating what transgender people are allowed to do, including health care they can receive”-- including 61% of Independents and a plurality (45%) of Republicans

• 55% of respondents there is too much legislation targeting transgender people, and view them as “political theater”

Without a positive message or any plans to improve the lives of families, MAGA politicians continue to resort to these ads to try and distract voters from their failures and unpopular positions. But voters continue to prove that their efforts to spread hate and division are a political loser. Read more about the long history of the failure of anti–trans ads here.