Colorado Grassroots Coalition Shows Political Victory Comes From Decentralized, Cross-Partisan Volunteer Organizing, Not Money or Establishment Backing
Source: Chris Bray. "Colorado Parents Teach A Powerful Lesson About Political Victory." November 6, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
In a state that swung hard to the Democrats, Colorado parents still passed three conservative ballot measures about protecting kids, despite being badly outspent and ignored by the establishment. The author says they won by building a broad coalition, relying on thousands of volunteers, and talking to neighbors face to face. He argues this is a model for political victory and that lawmakers should not try to undo the result.
Conclusion
The Colorado parents' campaign shows that political victory, even in a state moving sharply left, comes from a decentralized, cross-ideological grassroots movement built on persistence and face-to-face persuasion rather than money or establishment support. Legislators should therefore respect the ballot measures and would face a formidable coalition if they tried to repeal them.
Premises
- In 2026, Colorado voters elected a Democrat trifecta and also passed three conservative child-protection ballot measures (Props 133, 134, 135), so the measures won against the state's political tide.
- The campaign won despite being outspent roughly 5-to-1, being shunned by major donors, Republican officials, and political consultants, and being smeared by the media.
- The organizers built a coalition across partisan and cultural lines (radical feminists, evangelicals, Catholics) united around the theme that 'protecting kids is the great unifier.'
- The organizers treated their 2024 failure to qualify for the ballot as a lesson and restarted immediately, and they relied on a decentralized network of thousands of volunteers instead of money.
- The Catholic Church's institutional support, including signature-collection weekends in parishes, supplied about a quarter of the signatures needed to reach the ballot.
- Volunteers countered hostile media framing through one-on-one conversations with neighbors, including in places where people disagreed with them.
- The measures were passed by majorities of voters and are legally sound, so the legislature ought to respect the will of the people and would face a large, durable coalition if it tried to repeal them.
Assumptions
- The campaign's organizational structure and tactics, rather than other factors, caused the victories.
- The Colorado results generalize to other states and political contexts, so they offer a transferable lesson.
- The narrow 52% margins on Props 134 and 135 reflect real persuasion rather than ballot-wording effects or voters' ideological inconsistency.
- Campaign leader Erin Lee's self-reported account accurately describes what drove the outcome.
- The coalition and volunteer network will stay mobilized after the election.
- A ballot-measure victory is a legitimate, binding expression of the popular will that legislators should defer to.