PITTSBURG, Kan. — With the governor’s race heating up, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and her Republican opponent, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, were both touting their credentials on women’s issues and transgender sports participation on Wednesday.
“Today, the Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus, an affiliate of the National Women’s Political Caucus, endorsed Governor Laura Kelly for reelection. The Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus is a multi-partisan, multicultural, grass roots organization dedicated to increasing women’s participation in politics,” the Kelly campaign said in a press release.
“On top of being a role model for young women and girls across the nation, Governor Kelly consistently works to uplift women, both in her administration and throughout the state,” Laura Loyacono, president of the caucus, said in the release. “She worked to ensure that women can enter and remain in the workforce, access better healthcare, and 54% of her appointments have been women. We are proud to stand behind Governor Kelly as she continues to fight for women in Kansas.”
Kelly also commented on the endorsement herself.
“I’m pleased to be supported by the Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus,” she said. “Women make up over 50% of Kansas’ population, and we must ensure that we always have a seat at the table. I’ve prioritized placing women in leadership positions because when womens’ voices are heard, everyone benefits. I’m proud to have the Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus with me as we continue to uplift women voices in 2022 and beyond.”
Republicans, meanwhile, criticized Kelly on Wednesday for a new TV ad she has released, where she appears to be backpedaling on her previous support for biologically male transgender people who identify as female being allowed to compete in girls’ and women’s sports.
“You may have seen my opponent’s attacks, so let me just say it: of course men should not play girls sports. OK, we all agree there,” Kelly says in the ad, before going on to talk about school funding, an area where she says that she and Schmidt disagree.
In 2021, Kelly vetoed a bill that would have prevented biological males from competing in girls' and women’s interscholastic and intercollegiate sports, saying that the legislation, dubbed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, was “unnecessary and divisive legislation” that would “undoubtedly harm our ability to attract and retain businesses.”
Kelly's new ad followed the release of an ad in support of her opponent, which featured female swimmer Riley Gaines criticizing Kelly’s past positions on transgender sports issues.
“As a child, I woke up at 4 a.m. to swim every day, and my work got me to nationals,” Gaines says in the ad. “But then I was forced to share a locker room with a biological man. It was uncomfortable and it was wrong. In the pool, he claimed a trophy that a woman had earned. This has to stop. Laura Kelly vetoed laws to protect women and girls in sports, not once, but twice. If Laura Kelly can't protect women, she shouldn't be governor of Kansas.”
Joanna Rodriguez, Kansas spokesperson for the Republican Governors Association, also criticized Kelly’s new ad on Wednesday.
“Laura Kelly is looking Kansans in the eye and flat out lying about her record of failing to protect girls and women from having to compete against biological men in athletics,” Rodriguez said. “Kelly had the chance as governor not once, but twice, to stand with parents and these young women and girls, and both times she worked against their interests. Kelly's desperation today shows she'll do whatever it takes to hold onto power and keep pushing Democrats' radical education agenda in Kansas schools.”
