Victories at every level, from Amendment 83 in Colorado & candidate elections, to Measure E in Lemon Grove, California
WASHINGTON D.C.––If animal advocates drank even one sip of an alcoholic toast to every November 3, 2026 win for pro-animal candidates and ballot measures, the entire animal advocacy sector might soon be drunker than a flock of birds around a fermented berry bush.
There were that many victories for candidates and issues endorsed by Animal Wellness Action, the Humane World Action Fund, and other animal advocacy groups, including relatively tiny and as yet largely unknown Strategic Action for Animals in Lemon Grove, California, population 28,000.
Colorado Amendment 83 post-mortem
The biggest win was the defeat of Colorado Amendment 83, a “right-to-hunt” initiative advanced by big bucks from the T. Roosevelt Conservation Alliance, the conservative GOPAC Election Fund, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the Concord Fund, the Safari Club International Colorado Chapter, Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management, and ther Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
The pro-Amendment 83 coalition outspent opponents by a margin of three-to-one, and appeared primed to win in every pre-election poll, but the outcome was a stark reversal of hunting lobby expectations.
(See Colorado “right-to-hunt” Amendment 83 killed in slam dunk rout.)
Amendment 83 had been opposed since May 2026 by a coalition of self-described “environmental and wildlife organizations, gun safety advocates, and progressive political groups,” but “Their effort was going nowhere fast,” Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy president Wayne Pacelle told ANIMALS 24-7 in an election post-mortem