Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told a transgender college student on Thursday that Democrats who view transgender rights as a political albatross are “wrong,” saying that marginalizing transgender Americans could imperil the rights of all citizens.
The exchange took place at a “Students vs. Billionaires” town hall at Portland’s State Theatre, where the New York Democrat campaigned for Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins, just under two weeks before the November 3 midterms.
The question came from an attendee.
“I am a transgender student at the University of Southern Maine, and I and a lot of trans people in America feel that we have been abandoned by the Democratic Party, that we are a losing issue, that it’s not worth defending us,” the student said. “What do you say to that?”
Ocasio-Cortez didn’t hesitate.
“They’re wrong. They’re wrong,” she said. “And first and foremost, I want to just let you know how shameful and sorry I am that there are people out there that are that scare so easily after an election.”
“And I think it’s what people hate most about politics, which is politicians who will jump on this side or that side of the line at a moment’s notice,” she added.
Calling herself a “girl’s girl” in her answer, Ocasio-Cortez stressed the implications of compromising on transgender rights.
“What is so important for everyone to understand is that the moment you compromise the rights of a trans person in America, you compromise the rights of every citizen in America,” she said.
Both Ocasio-Cortez and Jackson defended transgender rights at the event and vowed to protect minority groups from the Trump administration, NewsCenter Maine reported.
The town hall, organized by More Perfect University, lasted just over an hour as high school and college students asked about regulating artificial intelligence, student debt, and the closing of rural maternity wards, the Portland Press Herald reported. The Portland visit was part of a get-out-the-vote tour that has taken Ocasio-Cortez to Michigan, New York, and Ohio, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Ocasio-Cortez, who was once a server before winning her House seat in 2018, characterized Jackson, a logger and former president of the Maine Senate, as an outsider to Washington’s fear.
AOC said the powerful have feared “a waitress in the House, and a logger in the United States Senate.”
She also thanked Jackson for ignoring Washington consultants who would have told him not to share the stage with her, the Maine Morning Star reported.
Recent polls put Jackson slightly ahead of Collins, a five-term incumbent, in a close race that Democrats see as key to their hopes of taking control of the Senate. Ocasio-Cortez is the latest national progressive Democrat to campaign for Jackson, joining Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Politico reported.
The Republicans have played up these visits. Maine GOP Chairman Jim Deyermond told reporters Wednesday that Ocasio-Cortez lies far outside of the mainstream of Maine politics. At the same time, a Collins campaign spokesperson charged that Jackson spends his time with national progressives, the Bangor Daily News reported. Collins herself appeared Wednesday in Lewiston alongside former Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to highlight her bipartisan record.
Ocasio-Cortez’s involvement adds another layer to a rift within the party that has emerged in the campaign’s last weeks. Many Democrats blame their 2024 losses on Republican messaging about transgender issues, including a Trump campaign ad that said “Kamala is for they/them,” Axios reported.
Some Democrats in competitive races have moved right as a result. Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur said in a campaign ad that “boys should not play in girls’ sports,” prompting pushback from local Democratic leaders in Toledo, Roll Call reported. Texas Senate nominee James Talarico has said that he would oppose transgender athletes participating in girls’ sports if it would threaten safety or fairness.
In South Carolina, Senate nominee Annie Andrews responded to Trump’s attacks with an ad declaring, “I don’t support biological men playing women’s sports,” CNN reported. California Gov. Gavin Newsom faced criticism from LGBTQ advocates in 2025 when he told conservative activist Charlie Kirk that transgender girls playing in girls’ sports was unfair.
Others have held their ground. Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey embraced trans rights in his primary against Rep. Seth Moulton, who said in the aftermath of the 2024 election that he did not want his daughters to compete against transgender athletes and later apologized. Markey won by almost 30 percentage points, The Conversation reported. Mark Takano of California, a leader with Equality PAC, told Roll Call that the group welcomes imperfect allies but will not support Democrats who use Republican rhetoric that harms transgender Americans.
Public opinion remains a challenge for the party. A Pew Research Center poll cited by Roll Call finds 73% of Americans uncomfortable with athletes playing on teams that don’t correspond to their sex at birth.
In September, Trump told a Republican gathering that he prefers to hold off on attacks on transgender athletes until the last weeks of the campaign and warns Democrats may change their message on the issue.
The legal landscape has also changed. On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that Idaho and West Virginia may bar transgender girls and women from female sports teams, a ruling that applies to similar laws in 27 states, JURIST reports.
Maine stands at the center of this controversy. In February 2025, Trump asked Democratic Gov. Janet Mills at a White House meeting about his executive order barring transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, to which Mills replied, “We’ll see you in court.” The Justice Department filed suit against the state that April, and Mills argues that Maine’s human rights law protects transgender students.
Democrats require a net gain of four seats to regain control of the Senate majority, making Maine one of the party’s top targets this fall.
Ocasio-Cortez ended the night by urging Jackson’s supporters to tune out the noise and vote for Democrats, according to WGME. Election Day is November 3.
