A GOP super PAC twists a Texas adult’s transition story to scare Ohio voters with an ad full of lies

This story first appeared on Them.

A reelection advertisement created by a Republican super PAC in support of Ohio Senator Jon Husted misleads viewers into thinking that a young person’s gender transition was somehow Democratic opponent Sherrod Brown’s fault due to failed state-level policies. There’s only one problem: the person in the ad is not from Ohio and was a legal adult when she transitioned.

On September 24, the Senate Leadership Fund, which bills itself as the “only outside organization solely dedicated to protecting and expanding the Republican Senate Majority,” debuted the ad, “Sherrod Brown Does Whatever Extremists Demand,” aimed at linking the Ohio Democrat with gender-affirming care for minors, an ongoing wedge issue in the upcoming midterm elections.

In the ad, 23-year-old Texan Soren Aldaco states that after a “20-minute meeting,” doctors told her parents that she was transgender, which led to “hormone shots” and a “botched double mastectomy,” which caused her “years of trauma.” She claims in the video that the surgery happened when she was a child.

After telling her story, Aldaco then links her personal situation to Brown’s alleged pro-trans policies, saying that Brown “supports sex change surgery for minors” and “admitted he would never oppose it.”

Aldaco closes the ad by saying that Brown does “whatever extremists demand,” including “anything to hold onto power.”

As pointed out by several journalistic and fact-checking outlets, including local ABC affiliate WEWS and Politifact, much of the ad is misleading or outright false.

Per court documents reviewed by WEWS, Aldaco received surgery without parental consent when she was 19 years old — in other words, as a legal adult. She also received her surgery in Texas, not in Ohio.

In fact, a scenario like the one suggested by Aldaco’s ad would not be possible in Ohio. Gender-affirming care for minors has been banned in Ohio since 2024, per the ACLU of Ohio.

The television interview in which the Senate Leadership Fund claims Brown supports sex change surgery for minors and admits he would never oppose it is also highly misconstrued.

In the interview with WSYX, Brown says that such medical decisions are “between them, their families, their doctors, not politicians.” He continues, “I will never agree with anybody that wants to bring politics into the family situation with health care. Period.”

Aldaco is a prominent detransitioner who has told her story in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. However, as pointed out by WEWS, her story has absolutely nothing to do with the Buckeye state.

“To say that you had surgery or you were forced into surgery as a minor is clearly inaccurate,” Dr. Anita Somani, who is a legislator based in Columbus, told the outlet. “Did not live in Ohio, had no connections to Ohio.”

As several media outlets and commentators have observed, facing a historic referendum against their agenda in the upcoming midterm elections, the GOP has turned to transgender issues as a Hail Mary tactic, hoping the divisive issue will lure in Republican voters in November.

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