Press Release
March 4, 2020
CONTACT:
[email protected] | Jennifer Molina – 323.939.6791
OAKLAND – The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) today declared victory against Big Oil’s millions of dollars war chest this primary. Although votes are still being counted, last night 95 percent of CLCV’s endorsed candidates made the general election.
This cycle, CLCV has already invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in resources to help elect candidates who will ensure communities across California have access to clean air, water and public lands. In one race alone, CLCV partnered in an over $300,000 effort to successfully stop an oil candidate from moving forward. CLCV joined forces with coalitions across the state – California Alliance: Consumer Attorneys of California and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) – to help strengthen its efforts. CLCV further provided candidates with hundreds of hours of volunteer support, mail and helped elevate all endorsed candidates .
“After a year of Californians being hit with some of the worst impacts of climate inaction, we knew that we needed to put up a fight against Big Oil’s efforts to set our state back,” said Mary Creasman CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters. “Last night’s results show that communities across the state are ready to join us in the fight to ensure we have leaders at the local, State and Federal level who prioritize climate action. We are so proud of our endorsed candidates who will be moving on to the general election and we are ready for the fight ahead.”
In Congressional races, CLCV turned out to be an effective and critical validator for its endorsed candidates. In Congressional District 25, Christy Smith will be advancing to the general election. The following CLCV endorsed candidates will also be heading into the general election: Chris Bubser, Josh Harder, TJ Cox, Gil Cisneros, Katie Porter, Harley Rouda, Mike Levin and Ammar Campa-Najjar. CLCV is committed to ensuring California elects environmental champions.
At the start of this cycle, CLCV prioritized the following Senate: Senate District 5, Senate District 15 and later added Assembly District 57. CLCV’s support helped Susan Eggman move forward and in Senate District 15, CLCV combatted Nora Campos and Big Oil’s attempt to buy the seat. As of this morning, one of CLCV’s endorsed candidates, Dave Cortese and Ann Ravel appear close to making the general election for the Senate race, despite being outspent by corporate oil interests three to one. Assembly District 57 is still too close to call – with CLCV’s endorsed candidate Lisa Calderon currently holds a few hundred vote lead over a Big Oil candidate. CLCV also made investments in the following Senate candidates who advanced to the general election: Josh Becker, John Laird, Monique Limón, Kipp Mueller, Abigail Medina and Josh Newman. In Assembly races, the following CLCV endorsed candidates will be heading into the general election: Dawn Addis, Melissa Fox and Chris Ward. CLCV will continue to monitor races that remain too close to call.
Heading into the primary election, CLCV saw the need to develop a pipeline of candidates, which resulted in an investment into local leagues across the state. In the Los Angeles, CLCV’s endorsements of Los Angeles County Supervisorial District 2 helped Holly Mitchell make the run-off. Earlier this week, CLCV launched a new local league in the Inland Empire – the Inland Empire League of Environmental Justice Voters. Along with the announcement, CLCV and the Inland Empire League of Environmental Justice Voters announced a slate of endorsements, which helped in San Bernardino City Council 5th Ward where Ben Reynoso qualified for the general election.
ABOUT CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL VOTERS
California Environmental Voters (formerly the California League of Conservation Voters) believes the climate crisis is here and this moment requires transformative change. California has the policy solutions to stop climate change but lacks the political will to do it at the rate and scale that’s necessary. EnviroVoters exists to build the political power to solve the climate crisis, advance justice, and create a roadmap for global action. We organize voters, elect and train candidates, and hold lawmakers accountable for bold policy change. We won’t stop until we have resilient, healthy, thriving communities, and a democracy and economy that is just and sustainable for all. Join us at www.envirovoters.org and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. See more press releases.
