In Colorado, opponents of Proposition 134 — which bans biological males from competing in girls' sports — outspent supporters 17 to 1. They had $5.2 million in resources, a Democratic wave at their backs, and every institutional advantage a progressive state could offer. The measure is passing 53% to 47% with 85% of votes counted.
Seventeen to one, and they still lost.
Across four states on Tuesday night, voters approved protections for female athletes regardless of which party they chose for Congress. Arizona's Proposition 318 passed 59% to 41%. Nebraska voters backed a constitutional ban on males in girls' sports by a 2-to-1 margin. Washington's Initiative 638 leads 56% to 44% with 70% of votes counted. Colorado's Prop 134 holds its lead despite being the single most lopsided spending battle on any ballot measure in the country.
Brian Heywood, founder of Let's Go Washington, which drove I-638 onto the ballot, framed the win simply: "This is a victory for girls like Frances, Ahnaleigh, Sadie."
Those aren't abstract names. Washington voters watched Logan Mihailoff, a male runner, switch into girls' competition and knew exactly what the initiative was about. They also watched Kallie Keeler, a high school athlete, become the face of what happens when the policy fails the girls it's supposed to protect.
Washington's Democratic Attorney General Nick Brown opposed I-638. The $10.7 million total spending on the initiative made it one of the most expensive ballot fights in the state. Brown had the full weight of the state's progressive infrastructure behind him. Voters heard him out and voted the other way by twelve points.
Paula Scanlan, the former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who competed alongside Lia Thomas, watched the results come in and put it plainly: "The voters have left the 'culture war' behind." She added: "Nobody woke up Tuesday and decided to become a red state."
That's the detail the national Democratic Party will have to sit with. These weren't Republican voters defecting on a single issue. These were the same voters who pulled the lever for Democrats up and down the ballot and then, on this one question, said no.
The spending gap in Colorado tells the whole story about where the public actually stands. When you outspend your opponent 17 to 1 and still lose by six points, the money isn't the problem. The argument is.
Heywood, asked about potential legal challenges to I-638, didn't flinch. "I am a fighter, and I believe that there's a fight to be had here," he told Just The News.
Four states. Two deep blue, one purple, one red. All four said the same thing. The Democratic Party won a historic election night and still couldn't sell this one policy to its own voters.
Arizona: 59-41. Nebraska: 2 to 1. Washington: 56-44. Colorado, outspent 17 to 1: 53-47.