Left: Kelsey Reinhardt with the Strategic Alliance Partner Award presented to CatholicVote
Right: Kelsey with Erin Lee and Patty McKernan of Protect Kids Colorado
Because of CatholicVote’s significant involvement in this historic grassroots effort, I was invited to receive an award. But the award did not bear my name. It said: “To CatholicVote.”
That means it belongs to you. It belongs to every CatholicVote supporter who makes this work possible.
In fact, when the four Catholic bishops of Colorado explicitly called on the faithful to help place these initiatives on the ballot, CatholicVote responded.
Thanks to you, we printed 7,500 ballot petitions and distributed them across Catholic churches throughout Colorado. We helped parishes organize signature collections and thus turn a good intention into actual civic action.
Against all odds—and with many conservatives inside and outside Colorado assuming the effort was futile—the coalition collected more than 500,000 signatures across the three initiatives. Even more remarkably, 91% of those signatures were valid. That is not the norm for signature verification when it comes to petitions.
The leaders of Protect Kids Colorado said plainly that this victory would not have been possible without a massive statewide Catholic mobilization. And that mobilization would not have been possible without CatholicVote. Which means it would not have been possible without you.
So I want to say this very simply: Thank you.
Thank you for helping prove that when Catholics are organized, courageous, and clear, we can still move mountains.
<<Support our efforts to move mountains.>>
Now that these three measures are on the ballot, we must help build an unprecedented coalition to make sure Colorado voters come together on Election Day to protect children, uphold fairness, defend parents, and secure a brighter future for Colorado families.
And make no mistake: If these measures can succeed in Colorado, they can succeed anywhere.
If Catholic voters can help change the future here, then Catholic voters across America should take heart.
Please keep Colorado in your prayers. And then get ready, because the work ahead will require courage, discipline, generosity, and faith.
Go forward bravely,
