Can Zoe Lofgren Win Over Working-Class Latinos with Her Pro-Transgender, Abortion Agenda?

Zoe Lofgren’s Crusade for Abortion and Pro-Transgender Agenda May No Longer Make Her a Democrat Darling in Her New, More Conservative and Much Discerning Voting District

The relentless social crusade for abortion and transgender rights that made Zoe Lofgren a liberal hero to her white, wealthy, elite constituents might just be her undoing in a new more conservative, family-oriented district. The people she must now ingratiate herself to are a very different type of Democrat than Lofgren has previously been assured to appease with her far-left stances on abortion and LGBQT issues. District 18 is less white, less rich, less liberal, and much more of a diverse Latino and working-class population than she’s ever faced before. Will her new community be convinced that Lofgren shares their values in such contentious social issues?

Let’s take a closer look at some key examples of Lofgren’s dogged determination to push abortion and a pro-transgender agenda, and examine why this new voting bloc might take pause.

Lofgren’s unwavering commitment to abortion

Lofgren has made her staunch support of abortion rights well known. Condemning the Supreme Court’s Dobbs Decision, she opined: “This Supreme Court decision is the first ever to take a constitutional right away from Americans. This is a bleak day for our country,” said Lofgren. “The Court has become a partisan body, overthrowing decades of precedent to advance a right-wing political agenda. This decision is the culmination of decades of efforts by the Republican Party to place one far-right ideologue after another on the Court.”

She promised to protect abortion in California via her power in the U.S. Congress, saying, “I’m grateful that our local elected officials strongly support women’s rights and will continue to fight for them. I join them in that crucial fight. At least until next year, abortion will remain safe, accessible, and legal in California. But we must take action to keep it that way.”

Her impassioned statement let her formerly very liberal voters know she believes “Freedom is on the line. We need to step up, get busy, and organize to stop Republican plans to impose their right-wing agenda on the entire country.”

But does the demographic of her new district see abortion as a ring-wing agenda? The statistics say otherwise.

Abortion is a subject that Latinos in her new district are divided about

According to the Pew Research Center’s report in 2022, “Among Latino Democrats and Democratic leaners, 84% of liberals say abortion should be legal in most or all cases…. Meanwhile, among Latino Republicans and GOP leaners, 69% of conservatives say abortion should be illegal in most or all cases.”

While many Latinos have voted for Democrats, they decidedly don’t necessarily identify as “liberals” or with the increasingly left-learning liberal politics of the Democrats, especially when it comes to abortion rights.

Lofgren’s support of abortion without limits disproportionately victimizes Latino children and damages Latinas.

Lofgren’s politicking is killing Latino children.

Lofgren believes in abortion without limits – including allowing a mother to kill a baby after it has been born alive. She voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, 11/11/2023 and dozens of other measures to protect unborn children:

She also voted against a House resolution expressing the sense of Congress condemning recent attacks on pro-life facilities, groups, and churches.

Lofgren’s Pro-transgender Crusade

Lofgren has a fundamental difference in values from her new Latino constituents in her pro-transgender agenda. Lofgren has been a fierce supporter of transgender rights and gender-affirming care, which was pleasing to the wealthy liberal elites of her previous district. It was so pleasing to this crowd that they applauded her verbal attack on a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Gail Heriot, for being an “ignorant bigot” when Heriot testified before the House of Representatives. During her testimony, Heriot expressed opposition to the Obama administration’s directive on transgender students’ use of restrooms, which urges public school districts nationwide to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

Lofgren cut Heriot’s testimony off, using her booming microphone to blast her.

“I think you’re a bigot, lady. I think you’re an ignorant bigot.”

Lofgren then continued to lecture Heriot. “I’ve got to say, I found [this testimony] rather offensive, and it says to me that the witness really doesn’t know anything and probably has never met a transgender child who is going through, in almost every case, a very difficult experience finding themselves.”

While Lofgren’s outrage was applauded by liberals, this was not the case among more conservative-minded people who considered her attack on Heriot, an accomplished law professor and civil rights attorney, to be rude, uncalled for and out of touch with the views of many Americans.

How will Lofgren’s pro-trans crusade sit with her new district?

According to Vox,

“While most Latinos ranked the economy as a top midterm priority, their opinions on abortion and LGBTQ Americans were much more varied. Vox’s reporting ultimately concluded that currently “Fewer than half of Latinos say that same-sex marriage and acceptance of transgender people are ‘good for society.’”

Support for LGBTQ and trans rights is also much less popular when it comes to older generations of Latinos and working-class Latino families, compared to the young Latinos of Generation X. A big chunk of Lofgren’s new voters are working-class families, who might not appreciate Lofgren pushing pro-transgender values that they largely believe are not good for society.

Will Lofgren’s allegiance to far-left liberal values put her at odds with her new unfamiliar territory?

On the March 5 primary, we will see what the voters of District 18 truly stand for.

Janine Morrison

Janine Morrison is a writer, editor, and gardening enthusiast.

Janine Morrison

Janine Morrison is a writer, editor, and gardening enthusiast.

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