Voters elected Democrats but rejected progressive positions on women's sports, showing the issue is a loser for the left
Source: "GAINES: Voters picked Democrats, then rejected their agenda on women’s sports | Fox News." November 9, 2026. www.foxnews.com
The Gist
Riley Gaines says Americans handed Democrats the midterm wins but still voted to keep men out of women's sports, even in blue states like Colorado and Washington and even when the other side outspent them 20 to 1. She concludes the issue is a loser for the left and that voters are not embracing the progressive social agenda just because they voted for Democrats.
Conclusion
Although voters elected Democrats in the 2026 midterms, they did not endorse the progressive social agenda; their consistent support for sex-based women's sports ballot measures, including in blue states, shows that restricting male participation in women's sports is a broadly popular, cross-partisan position and a losing issue for the left.
Premises
- In Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington, voters backed ballot measures protecting female athletic competition on the basis of biological sex.
- Colorado and Washington are reliably blue states with leadership that has embraced progressive gender policies, so the measures' success was not confined to Republican strongholds.
- In Colorado, opponents of the measure outspent proponents roughly 20 to 1 (about $4 million versus $200,000), with backing from unions and progressive groups, yet the measure still prevailed.
- The same electorate that put Democrats in power also voted against what the author calls a central pillar of the progressive agenda, which means the Democratic wins were not an endorsement of that agenda.
- Public and corporate backlash against people who voice support for women's sports has weakened, as shown by WNBA player Sophie Cunningham's surge in popularity and merchandise sales after taking that stance.
Assumptions
- Ballot measures on women's sports are a valid proxy for broader public sentiment on the progressive gender agenda.
- Voters who backed the measures understood them as rejecting the Democratic or progressive position, rather than as a nuanced or narrow policy choice.
- Voters' choices in candidate races and ballot measures can be read as separate signals about different issues (economy versus culture).
- Fundraising disparities show the measure's popularity is genuine, rather than merely indicating that the opposing campaign was ineffective.
- Sophie Cunningham's commercial success is representative of broader cultural acceptance rather than an outlier.
- Democratic leaders broadly oppose sex-based women's sports restrictions, so these results are a rebuke of them.