Democrats are changing their transgender message. Republicans say theyre just flip-flopping

South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Dr. Annie Andrews appears to be distancing herself from her past opposition to restricting transgender athletes in girls' sports, telling Fox News Digital she opposes biological males competing in women's sports and gender transition surgeries for minors.

As Democrats fight to regain control of the House and Senate in the , Andrews is among a group of candidates in competitive races in red and swing states who seem to be shifting positions on transgender issues. Meanwhile, Republicans are aiming to use the highly-charged issue as a cudgel to bash Democrats for a second straight cycle.

"I don't support biological men playing in women's sports, and I don't support gender surgery on minors," Andrews told Fox News Digital.

Andrews, who's locked in an increasingly competitive midterm election showdown with Republican Sen. Darline Graham in reliably red state , delivers the same message in a new campaign commercial, adding, "I want you to hear me loud and clear."

But Graham, who was appointed to following the sudden death this summer of her older brother, longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, is accusing Andrews of trying to conceal her previous position on transgender athletes.

Andrews "has spent years supporting biological males competing in girls sports. Now that shes running for Senate, shes trying to hide from that radical record," Graham recently charged.

Graham and Republicans point to Andrews' opposition to a 2022 South Carolina law barring transgender athletes from competing on girls' and women's public school sports teams.

"This is shameful legislation that does nothing to protect or support women or children in SC. In fact, it is actively harmful. I will always support trans youth," Andrews wrote in a social media post at the time.

Republicans are seeking to once again make the issue a campaign liability.

The GOP effectively blasted Democrats in the 2024 election, with President 's campaign targeting Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris with ads declaring "Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you."

Republicans spent more than $200 million to run ads targeting Democrats on the transgender issue in the 2024 campaign, arguably helping the GOP to sweeping victories.

The latest national polls indicate that most Americans oppose transgender athletes playing on sports teams that dont match their birth sex.

More than three-quarters (76%) of those questioned in a Fox News national poll conducted last month backed banning biological men from competing in women's sports, with one in five opposed. The survey indicated bipartisan support, with 90% of Republicans, 77% of independents and 61% of Democrats backing the ban.

Facing a rough political climate amid an unpopular war in Iran and soaring gas and diesel prices as they try to hold their fragile congressional majorities, Trump and the GOP are increasingly looking to replay their transgender political playbook.

Trump, at last month's GOP midterm convention, described anti-trans messaging as one of the partys most effective campaign tools to drive voter turnout and target Democrats in the final stretch leading up to Election Day.

"Its one of our great sound bites of all time," the president said at the two-day confab in Dallas.

And some of the other top speakers at the convention, including Vice President JD Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Senate and House GOP re-election chairs Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Richard Hudson highlighted the issue in their addresses.

Meanwhile, Republican ads on the issue are running for a second straight cycle.

But Democrats are recalibrating, and learning to fight bac