HRC Refuses to Endorse Marcy Kaptur and Amy Acton

HRC is withholding endorsements from two Ohio Democrats over their positions on transgender athletes and other trans-related issues.

By John Riley on October 8, 2026 @JRileyMW

Amy Acton - Photo: actonforgovernor.com, Marcy Kaptur - YouTube Screenshot — Amy Acton – Photo: actonforgovernor.com, Marcy Kaptur – YouTube Screenshot

Kelley Robinson, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, criticized Democrats who embrace anti-transgender messaging to counter Republican attack ads.

“My honest answer is you’re doing too much and getting too little,” Robinson said during an October 5 breakfast roundtable with reporters at HRC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., according to The Advocate. “You don’t have to sacrifice any member of our community to win in these races, to have a message that resonates with voters.

Robinson noted that HRC has committed $15 million — its largest investment in a midterm election — to elect candidates who support LGBTQ rights and will defend the transgender community from conservative attacks.

“We are not the Democratic Party — we do not endorse every Democrat,” she said. “We endorse folks who are with us on the issues and where we think that there’s a margin that we can make a difference and win.”

Robinson contrasted HRC’s lack of support for U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton with its backing of former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic nominee for Ohio’s Senate seat.

Kaptur angered LGBTQ advocates by releasing two campaign ads opposing so-called “gender ideology” in schools and transgender girls’ participation on girls’ sports teams. Transgender athletes and gender-affirming care for minors are frequent targets of anti-LGBTQ attack ads.

Kaptur also touted her vote for Republican-backed legislation requiring public schools to out transgender students to their parents and threatening to strip funding from schools that teach that transgender identity is valid or recognize genders other than male or female.

Acton, who faces Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, supported the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling allowing states to ban transgender women and girls from female sports teams, telling Toledo’s The Blade that she does not support “boys playing in girls’ sports.”

At the same time, Acton’s campaign website says she is “committed to standing up against discrimination and ensuring that every Ohioan — including members of the LGBT community — receives equal protection under the law.”

By contrast, Brown responded to a Senate Leadership Fund ad accusing him of supporting “sex change surgery for kids” with his own ad disputing the claims and criticizing Republicans for obsessing over transgender issues instead of health care, rising prices, and the proliferation of data centers.

As reported by The Advocate, Robinson praised Brown’s response to anti-trans attacks and criticized Kaptur’s, while describing Acton as someone with a supportive history who had become “tangled” in her messaging.

But Robinson said candidates cannot hold anti-trans positions while claiming to be pro-equality, adding that she would not devote time to supporting Kaptur or Acton.

Robinson argued that adopting anti-transgender positions could weaken the coalition candidates need in a close election by discouraging transgender people and their allies from voting. She said concessions on sports or health care would not stop Republican attacks accusing Democrats of being insufficiently anti-transgender.

“The ads are not going to stop,” she said. “This is not a well-intentioned or good-faith political debate that they’re trying to engage with you on. This is a scare tactic because they don’t have answers to the concerns of voters.”

Instead, HRC advises candidates to answer the attacks, state their values, and pivot to other issues constituents want addressed. Robinson described the advice as a “correction” to Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, which was reluctant to respond to anti-transgender ads.

“[W]hen your opposition is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a lie, you have to address it,” Robinson said. “That to me was the core failure of 2024: the lack of direct response.”

Democrats continue to grapple with how to respond to anti-transgender attacks, with some adopting positions similar to those Robinson criticized.

Recently, U.S. Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.), whose redrawn district includes more conservative-leaning territory in eastern North Carolina, released an ad opposing transgender athletes’ participation on female sports teams.

“I believe states should decide what’s right for protecting women and girls, and North Carolina has decided,” he says, referring to a trans athlete ban pushed through over former Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. “I approve this message because there should always be a safe and fair space for women and girls in sports.”

In Texas, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico recently angered some transgender activists when he said in a Fox News interview that he would oppose transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports “if it endangers safety or fairness.”

Talarico, who has been endorsed by HRC, has since clarified his remarks, arguing — as he did when Texas’ trans athlete ban passed in 2023 — that local schools should determine whether a transgender athlete’s presence on the field or pitch endangers player safety or compromises fairness.