There’s no avoiding reality: Tuesday was a bad night for conservatives in D.C. A loss of Republican majorities in both the House and Senate means that it will be nigh impossible to get any positive reforms through Congress over the next two years. However, there are signs that suggest this election was more a repudiation of establishment politicians than it was that of conservative policies.
Perhaps the most remarkable win of the night was in the arena of women’s sports. Before Election Day, 27 states had laws that barred men from competing on women’s sports teams, laws that the Supreme Court upheld earlier this year. This election cycle, four more states asked voters if they, too, should protect women’s sports – Nebraska, Arizona, Washington, and Colorado. Not only did the ballot measures pass in each of those states, it’s notable that at least two of those states are not normally on the side of biological reality. Yet even in deep blue Washington and Colorado, voters agreed that women and girls should not have to forfeit their locker rooms and sports teams to men.
Proposition 134 in Colorado and Initiative Measure 422 in Nebraska explicitly prohibit men from participating on women’s sports teams. Initiative 638 in Washington included additional language that requires student wishing to compete on a female team to provide documentation verifying their sex. Proposition 318 in Arizona did not limit the ban to just sports – it also prohibits “schools and athletic associations” from allowing anyone to use a private space designated for a sex different from the individual’s sex.
When Concerned Women for America first advocated against the intrusion of men in women’s sports, very few others believed it was an issue they needed to fight. To secure such major wins in places like Washington and Colorado shows that we have won the argument in the court of public opinion, thanks to the tireless work of our women on the ground nationwide. With the approval of these ballot measures, there are now 31 states that stand for the dignity and protection of female athletes.
States did not just affirm biological reality in sports, however. Progress was also made in the fight against sex-rejecting procedures for minors. In yet another surprise from the Centennial State, Colorado voters approved Proposition 135, which not only prohibits surgeries “for the purpose of altering biological sex characteristics” for anyone under the age of 18 but also bars the use of state or federal funds for them.
There were also wins for election integrity. Although North Carolina and Ohio’s Senate seats both flipped from Republican to Democrat, voters approved measures in both states requiring photo ID for all voters, not just in-person ballots. Nevada voters also approved of requiring photo ID for in-person ballots and some kind of identification number for mail-in ballots.
Online sports betting has become a significant problem, with sports fans inundated with ads for DraftKings, FanDuel, and others. Nearly 50% of American men now have a sportsbook account. But despite the industry’s growth and lobbying power, voters in Nebraska rejected the chance to become the 32nd state with legal sports betting. For now, gambling in Nebraska remains confined to brick-and-mortar casinos instead of too-easily accessed phone apps.
While the Congressional results from these midterm elections were not what we hoped for, these ballot measure wins are significant. Voters may have largely rejected the politicians who have been in power for the past two years, but they did not reject conservative policies overall. Fewer women will have to sacrifice their privacy to adult men, fewer children will be subjected to barbaric surgeries, election security will improve in places, and the spread of sports betting is not, in fact, unstoppable. These are silver linings that we can and should celebrate, wins that we can build on as we continue to stand for truth and solid policy in the days to come.
