𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝟐𝟐-𝐓𝐎-𝟏, 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐎 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃-𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐒
Colorado went for Democrats up and down the ballot Tuesday night, 60% to 35% in the top-line races. But buried underneath that blowout, three citizen-led ballot measures that the state's own Democratic Party officially opposed were cruising to victory anyway, according to live returns reported by conservative correspondent Ben Bergquam.
Proposition 133 would mandate 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 for trafficking a child for sex, up from the current 8-to-48-year sentencing range. With roughly 60% of the vote counted, it was leading 𝟖𝟔𝟓,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐨 𝟓𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎. Proposition 134, requiring school and college athletes to compete on teams matching their biological sex, was ahead by 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬. Proposition 135, banning gender-transition surgery for anyone under 18, was winning too.
The campaign behind all three, Protect Kids Colorado, didn't get there with money. Bergquam reported the group was outspent 𝟐𝟐 𝐭𝐨 𝟏 by its opposition and says its volunteers were threatened for their trouble. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 22 𝘵𝘰 1,” Bergquam said on air. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥... 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰.”
That's the part that makes the margins remarkable: a 22-to-1 cash gap is the kind of number campaign consultants say decides elections before a single vote is cast. The group's own yard signs were being stolen by the truckload earlier in the campaign — organizers caught one thief on camera after hiding GPS trackers inside them. None of it worked. In a state that just handed Democrats a 25-point statewide win, voters still carved out space to protect kids on their own terms.
𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.
Source:
@RealAmVoice