I was working on Measure J in Sonoma County, and my friends were working on the 2 measures in Denver. One of the main obstacles we faced is with fundraising. Initial polls showed that Measure J in Sonoma County would have passed, but the opposition raised about 10 times more money than we did. We didn’t have money to send truthful literature to every household in Sonoma County, but only to some households. However, the opposition sent multiple pieces of literature filled with exaggerations and lies to scare voters so that they would believe that store shelves would become empty if they voted yes on Measure J. Opposition raised over $2 million to just defeat Measure J. They had money for TV ads, and we didn’t. They paid money to a local environmental nonprofit to publicize why locals should vote no. Our friends in Denver faced very similar challenges. However, our ballot measure to ban all livestock operations did pass in Berkeley. About 60% of people voted to shut down all livestock operations. When we started collecting signatures in Berkeley for this measure DD, then the only large livestock operation there decided to shut down. It was Golden Gate Fields horse race track. Also, even though Measure J did not pass in Sonoma County, it did generate a lot of press. Associated Press, LA Times, KQED, San Francisco Chronicle, and Washington Post covered it. If you count letters to the editor, then The Press Democrat covered Measure J around a 100 times. So there’s definitely more awareness of the issue of animal welfare now because of our efforts in Sonoma County. We can leverage our wins in Berkeley and Sonoma County for future work on ballot measures. We need funding though!
I was working on Measure J in Sonoma County, and my friends were working on the 2 measures in Denver. One of the main obstacles we faced is with fundraising. Initial polls showed that Measure J in Sonoma County would have passed, but the opposition raised about 10 times more money than we did. We didn’t have money to send truthful literature to every household in Sonoma County, but only to some households. However, the opposition sent multiple pieces of literature filled with exaggerations and lies to scare voters so that they would believe that store shelves would become empty if they voted yes on Measure J. Opposition raised over $2 million to just defeat Measure J. They had money for TV ads, and we didn’t. They paid money to a local environmental nonprofit to publicize why locals should vote no. Our friends in Denver faced very similar challenges. However, our ballot measure to ban all livestock operations did pass in Berkeley. About 60% of people voted to shut down all livestock operations. When we started collecting signatures in Berkeley for this measure DD, then the only large livestock operation there decided to shut down. It was Golden Gate Fields horse race track. Also, even though Measure J did not pass in Sonoma County, it did generate a lot of press. Associated Press, LA Times, KQED, San Francisco Chronicle, and Washington Post covered it. If you count letters to the editor, then The Press Democrat covered Measure J around a 100 times. So there’s definitely more awareness of the issue of animal welfare now because of our efforts in Sonoma County. We can leverage our wins in Berkeley and Sonoma County for future work on ballot measures. We need funding though!