A reasonable and responsible county party should rely on data to drive decisions — not on the loudest voices in the room or one person’s bad experience at a school board meeting. That’s especially true when the issue is as sensitive as whether biological boys should be allowed to compete in girls’ high school sports.
We’ve heard a lot of opinions on this topic lately — at meetings, online and in the news. But we wanted to get past the noise. So, the Thurston County Republican Party sent out a simple, one-question poll by text to registered voters in the Olympia and Tumwater school districts.
It asked: “Should biological boys play in girl’s high school sports? YES or NO. Paid by TCRP. STOP to END.”
That’s it. No spin, no complicated language — just a straightforward question.
We didn’t send it to just Republicans or Democrats. Our focus was on independent voters — the people in the middle — because the loudest debates often come from the extremes, and we wanted to find out where most people stand.
Here’s what we found: In Olympia, 81% of respondents said no. In Tumwater, 88% said no. Across nearly 28,000 people, with a 12% response rate, 84% of independents oppose biological boys competing in girls’ high school sports. That’s not a close call. That’s a landslide.
Still, some in the media didn’t report the result — they reported the reaction. A handful of people were upset we even asked the question. JOLT News ran a story suggesting we tried to impersonate the school districts (we didn’t — we clearly identified ourselves). Others were mad we texted them at all (we used publicly available voter data, just like every campaign does). And some claimed the question was hateful, which is a pretty aggressive take on a yes-or-no poll.
Even The Olympian covered the pushback — but left out the actual results. If 84% of independents agreed on anything else, it would be front-page news.
Look, we get that this is a tough issue for some people. But asking voters where they stand isn’t bullying — it’s basic civic engagement.
And in this case, the message came through loud and clear: People want fairness for girls in sports. That’s not controversial. Or at least, it shouldn’t be.
We also heard concerns about “kids getting texts.” To be clear, the poll only went to registered voters. In Washington, that includes 17-year-olds who are preregistered and will be 18 by election day. If you’re old enough to vote, you’re old enough to be asked a question that affects local policy.
At the end of the day, the data speaks for itself. People care about this issue, and they want their school boards to take their concerns seriously.
There are 68 nonpartisan races on Thurston County ballots this year. If this issue is important to you, make it count — by speaking up and voting. Let’s keep the focus on policy, not panic. On data, not drama. And above all, let’s remember that good governance starts with asking good questions.
Corey Gauny
Thurston County Republican Party
