The Utah Republican Party is mailing voters in several House districts a near copy of a 2024 mailer attacking Democrats over transgender issues, including a slogan copied word for word.
The mailers bash Democratic candidates for voting against legislation that would bar transgender people from girls’ sports and female locker rooms and ban hormone treatment and surgery for minors seeking gender-affirming care.
(Left) Graphic from a website associated with a 2024 anti-transgender campaign in Utah (Right) 2026 Utah Republican Party mailer
The slogan reads, “Protecting women’s sports: It’s not a Republican issue. It’s not a Democrat issue. It’s a common sense issue.” In both campaigns, “Republican” appears in red and “Democrat” appears in blue. The new mailers also include a stock photo of a girl opening a locker that appeared on a website associated with the 2024 effort.
(Left) Screenshot from a website associated with a 2024 anti-transgender campaign in Utah (Right) 2026 Utah Republican Party mailer
Two years ago, an out-of-state political action committee called Preserving Utah Values sent the mailers and text messages. Little was known about the group at first. Financial disclosures later showed that Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz was its sole funder, spending $120,000 on the effort.
This year, the money comes from the Utah Republican Party. Chairman Rob Axson said no single donor is behind the mailers, which are paid for out of existing donations.
“There’s a handful of races where we think it’s important to provide transparency on a candidate’s record,” Axson said.
Axson said he liked the 2024 messaging, which is the main reason he’s recycling much of it.
“This is still a pertinent issue for many voters,” he said.
The mailers fit a wider GOP strategy. Republican advertisers spent more than $60 million on ads referencing transgender issues through September, according to AdImpact.
Democrats say voters are focused on other issues ahead of November’s elections. Rosemary Lesser, the Democratic nominee in House District 10, said people are worried about the rising costs of groceries, gasoline, health care and housing.
“These anti-trans flyers are an attempt to manufacture outrage and distract from the challenges Utah families face every day. The real outrage is chaotic leadership that fuels division while families struggle to make ends meet,” Lesser said.
Lesser, a former incumbent attempting to regain her seat, is locked in a tight battle with Republican nominee Jim Alvey.
Another tight legislative contest where the mailers are hitting mailboxes is House District 37, where Democratic Rep. Ashlee Matthews is facing a strong challenge from Republican Casey Saxton. She called them another example of national political rhetoric leaking into local politics.
“They take larger conversations about complex issues and oversimplify them into bullet points meant to pit communities against each other and distract us from important issues, like people being kicked off of childcare or cutting back on groceries because they can’t afford them,” Matthews said.
The 2024 mailers did little to change legislative races. Lesser was the only targeted Democrat who lost.
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