{"id":2700120,"date":"2026-11-06T09:01:56","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T14:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignin-midterms-full-of-defeat-colorado-parents-teach-a-powerful-lesson-about-political-victory\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T09:06:24","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T14:06:24","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignin-midterms-full-of-defeat-colorado-parents-teach-a-powerful-lesson-about-political-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignin-midterms-full-of-defeat-colorado-parents-teach-a-powerful-lesson-about-political-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Parents Teach A Powerful Lesson About Political Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignin-midterms-full-of-defeat-colorado-parents-teach-a-powerful-lesson-about-political-victory%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2700120&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In Colorado\u2019s 2026 vote, Democrats won a gubernatorial trifecta while voters also approved three conservative measures: Prop 134 (sports teams designated by biological sex) and prop 135 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ny-mag-columnist-parents-are-household-tyrants-gop-imposing-conservative-agenda-on-students\/\" title=\"NY Mag Columnist: Parents Are \u2018Household Tyrants,\u2019 GOP Imposing Conservative Agenda On Students\">ban gender-affirming surgery<\/a> for minors), each near 52%, and Prop 133 (life without parole for traffickers of minors) with about 62%. Protect Kids Colorado, led by Erin Lee, forged a cross-ideological, volunteer-driven coalition-including Catholic bishops-to gather signatures and counter media criticism despite limited funding. Officials may seek repeal, but proponents say teh measures are legally sound and promise to defend the grassroots mandate.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>They won when everybody lost.<\/p>\n<p>Two things happened in Colorado this year, side-by-side: For the first time <a href=\"https:\/\/collegian.com\/articles\/news\/2026\/11\/category-news-breaking-colorado-senate-house-democrats-to-hold-dual-2-3-supermajority-for-1st-time-since-1938\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">since the 1930s<\/a>, voters have chosen a trifecta that includes a Democrat governor and Democrat supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature. At the same time, three conservative ballot measures won startling victories in a state that otherwise moved hard to the left. Colorado voters went left and went right, simultaneously.<\/p>\n<p>Two of those measures landed squarely in the heart of the left\/right cultural divide, dealing with transgender ideology. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.state.co.us\/pubs\/elections\/Initiatives\/titleBoard\/filings\/2025-2026\/109Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Proposition 134<\/a> requires schools, colleges, and sports leagues to designate teams as male, female, or co-ed, and then requires athletes to play on sports teams that match their real sex. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.state.co.us\/pubs\/elections\/Initiatives\/titleBoard\/filings\/2025-2026\/110Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Proposition 135<\/a> forbids transgender surgeries on minors. <\/p>\n<p>With close to 95 percent of the vote counted, late in the week, both were holding at close to 52 percent approval, with little apparent likelihood that the remaining uncounted ballots would change the result. Despite the apparent trend toward statewide approval, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/11\/03\/us\/elections\/results-colorado-proposition-135-prohibit-gender-confirmation-surgery-for-minors.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">county-level results<\/a> spoke clearly to the cultural divide: 70 percent of Denver voters refused to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-performing-transgender-surgery-on-children-is-child-abuse\/\" title=\"Texas: Performing Transgender Surgery On Children Is Child Abuse\">ban transgender surgery<\/a> on children, while Proposition 135 was on track for 88 percent support in rural Kiowa and Cheyenne counties, on the eastern plains.<\/p>\n<p>A third measure with broader support, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/11\/03\/us\/elections\/results-colorado-proposition-133-life-imprisonment-for-human-trafficking-of-minors.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Proposition 133<\/a>, requires a life sentence without the possibility of parole for sex traffickers who target minors. With most of the ballots counted, that measure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/11\/03\/us\/elections\/results-colorado-proposition-133-life-imprisonment-for-human-trafficking-of-minors.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appears to be passing<\/a> with more than 62 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n<p>To carry the electorate against the political tide, Erin Lee told The Federalist, organizers built a coalition that smashed through cultural boundaries. Lee runs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.protectkidscolorado.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Protect Kids Colorado<\/a>, the sponsor of the three ballot measures. They succeeded by refusing to be divided by partisan identity. Radical feminists who hate transgender ideology worked in partnership with conservative evangelicals, with aggressive institutional support from the Catholic Church. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cProtecting kids is the great unifier,\u201d Lee told The Federalist. People who disagree on many things agree on <em>that<\/em>, so that\u2019s what they worked on together. Measures that safeguard children from radical ideology, Lee said, are \u201cas common sense as you think they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Significantly, the 2026 victories came from a 2024 failure. As Lee told The Federalist, \u201cWe failed upward.\u201d The Colorado Biological Sex Requirements for School Athletics Programs Initiative of 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Colorado_Biological_Sex_Requirements_for_School_Athletics_Programs_Initiative_(2024)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fell short of the ballot<\/a>, not receiving enough signatures. So the organizers started over. \u201cAs soon as we failed, we went, okay, let\u2019s get ready for 2026,\u201d Lee said. They treated defeat as a teacher, and kept going.<\/p>\n<p>Ballot measures are usually understood to succeed on funding, and the measures struggled to find very much. As Colorado journalists <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradonewsline.com\/2026\/10\/27\/millions-dark-money-colorado-ballot-measures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have written<\/a>, opponents \u201coutspent Protect Kids Colorado by a 5-to-1 margin.\u201d Many donors who write big checks for conservative issues declined support. Republican officials weren\u2019t interested. \u201cI learned early on that we had been blacklisted,\u201d Lee told The Federalist. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t touch social issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Political consultants, Lee adds, weren\u2019t interested in working with parents: \u201cThe establishment doesn\u2019t believe in the grass roots. The consultant class can\u2019t make a dollar off us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So they built a structure that ran without deep pockets, and succeeded on \u201csheer manpower,\u201d building a network of thousands of volunteers.<\/p>\n<p>Decentralized, the campaign told volunteers to find their own ways to spread the message: \u201cEveryone\u2019s in charge. Everyone has the authority to build your teams in your community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Lee told The Federalist, \u201cSomeone told me the other day that I was running this campaign like a bake sale.\u201d Remember that: She was, and she won.<\/p>\n<p>Running without much institutional support, the campaign to protect children got extraordinary backing from one institution that brought all of its weight to bear. The state\u2019s Catholic bishops <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cocatholic.org\/letter\/the-colorado-bishops-support-and-encourage-signature-collection-parental-rights-initiatives-108-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explicitly declared their support<\/a>, and announced \u201cthree signature collection weekends for all Catholic parishes in our state.\u201d They also called on Catholics to volunteer in the effort. (Note if you read the linked letter that the numbering of the ballot measures later changed.)<\/p>\n<p>The bishops framed support for the measures as a duty: \u201cAs Catholic bishops of Colorado, we implore the Catholic faithful to act in accordance with Church teaching in support of these three initiatives \u2026 May we, as a community of faith, take this important stand for the dignity of the human person, the protection of children and the religious liberty of all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Catholic-led support for signature-gathering pushed the measures to the ballot, Lee told The Federalist. \u201cThat was about a quarter of my signatures overall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally, as Colorado media falsely framed the ballot measures as <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradotimesrecorder.com\/2026\/10\/protect-kids-colorado-ballot-measures\/82776\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">far-right<\/a> extremist measures from crazies, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/02\/media-are-still-lying-about-child-protection-measures-on-the-ballot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">inventing the claim<\/a> that the referendum on school sports would require children to submit to genital inspections from strangers, Lee told The Federalist that the structure of the campaign defeated the media. Thousands of volunteers all over the state talked to other parents, to people at church, and so on. They refuted media lies face-to-face, \u201cin their spheres of interest, having one-on-one discussions with their neighbors,\u201d and they took care to go to places where people disagreed with them.<\/p>\n<p>They won by <em>discussion<\/em>. \u201cWe were fundamentally shifting culture as we were advancing policy,\u201d Lee told The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>With the ballot measures carried in a state that will be governed by a leftist political trifecta, elected officials are already <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dobetterdnvr\/status\/2118416194222887111\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dropping hints<\/a> about repealing the ballot measures at the statehouse. In an interview with the Denver Post, Governor-elect Phil Weiser <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/jWfGT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> that the measures may turn out to be \u201cnot administrable,\u201d and therefore in need of adjustment from the legislature. Legislators are making similar noises, suggesting (as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/politics\/articles\/colorado-lawmaker-says-nothing-off-230348569.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one news story<\/a> summarizes it) that they \u201cwill have to explore their options with advocacy groups.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lee\u2019s response is simple: \u201cI again point back to the way we did this.\u201d The measures were passed by majorities of the state\u2019s voters, as a result of a grassroots movement that reached into every corner of the state. \u201cThe structure we\u2019ve built will not go away,\u201d Lee told The Federalist. An attempt at legislative repeal would require an open assault on a giant coalition and the entire institutional structure of the Catholic church in the state.<\/p>\n<p>Discussing Proposition 134 with The Federalist this week, a senior lawyer at the Alliance Defending Freedom said that the Colorado legislature \u201cought to be cautious.\u201d The measure passed in Colorado is legally sound, said Senior Counsel and Vice-President of Policy Matt Sharp. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s actually very similar to the laws from Idaho and Virginia that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/609us2r68_hgci.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Supreme Court upheld<\/a>,\u201d Sharp told The Federalist. It\u2019s a plain setting of clear standards, easy for officials to implement. \u201cWe think it\u2019s a very simple thing,\u201d Sharp said.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, Sharp added, \u201cthey ought to respect the will of the people, who have spoken very clearly on this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This week, the will of the people has been made clear by parents who wouldn\u2019t give up on their children, despite the political obstacles. \u201cThis is our families. This is our kids. We\u2019ve had enough,\u201d Lee told The Federalist. That\u2019s what it took.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>\ud83d\udea8OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN UPDATE!\ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n<p>\u2705 **PROP 133: WIN!** Called by the AP with over 60% of the vote!<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 **PROP 134: LEADING by 5%!**<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 **PROP 135: LEADING by 4%!**<\/p>\n<p>With over 90% of votes counted, we\u2019re awaiting final results from just a few counties. We\u2019re optimistic that\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ic4hrtr5K5\">pic.twitter.com\/Ic4hrtr5K5<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 Erin for Parental Rights (@Erin4Parents) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Erin4Parents\/status\/2118070615441650034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<hr>\n<p>      Chris Bray is a senior correspondent at The Federalist and a former infantry sergeant in the U.S. Army. He has a history PhD from the University of California Los Angeles, not that it did him any good. He also posts on Substack, at &#8220;Tell Me How This Ends,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/chrisbray.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colorado split: Dem trifecta, three ballot wins today!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":2700121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/erin-lee-1-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[69860,6024,6571,50402,5007],"class_list":["post-2700120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-civic-engagement-2","tag-colorado","tag-elections","tag-leadership-2","tag-parents"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/erin-lee-1-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2700120"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2700124,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700120\/revisions\/2700124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2700121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2700120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2700120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2700120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}