Lia Thomas issue may be key for turning Colorado red, former Olympian running for Senate says

'Save Women's Sports' Founder Beth Stelzer discusses Lia Thomas and the transgender athlete controversy.

Colorado statewide races have trended Democratic since 2006, with the lone exception of Cory Gardner’s U.S. Senate victory in 2014, but a Republican running for Senate this year told Fox News Digital that the transgender sports issue – best typified by NCAA swimming champion Lia Thomas – may prove vital in turning this mostly blue state red in the 2022 midterm election.

Eli Bremer, a former Olympian who joined the effort to reform the U.S. Olympic Committee in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal, said the transgender sports issue can flip the tables on Democrats' "war on women" rhetoric. He faulted Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., for not getting involved in the effort to pass the reform bill S. 2330, even though Bennet serves as the co-chair of the Congressional Olympic and Paralympic Caucus. A spokesperson for Bennet's U.S. Senate office contested the claim that Bennet insufficiently fought for women after the Nassar scandal, noting that Bennet voted (in a voice vote) for S. 2330 and pointing to a separate bill the senator cosponsored at the time.

FORMER OLYMPIAN SLAMS KETANJI BROWN JACKSON'S REFUSAL TO DEFINE ‘WOMAN’ AMID LIA THOMAS CONTROVERSY

"This is a lethal issue for Michael Bennett because historically Democrats have said that Republicans are the ones who don’t stand up for women, but the tables are completely turned now," Bremer told Fox News Digital. "I am a Republican who helped lead the efforts to end sexual abuse in the Olympics, and now I’m leading on this issue."

Former Olympic athlete and U.S. Air Force veteran Eli Bremer on Tuesday launched a Republican Senate campaign in Colorado, aiming