Hi friend,

Now that the dust has settled on the California Primary Election and nearly all the races have been decided, we wanted to give you another update on the results from the election.

Environmental voters in California made it clear that supporting climate action is a winning issue for candidates and accepting oil money is a losing strategy.

In decided races, 89% of our endorsed Senate and Assembly candidates won, including 10 out of our 13 climate justice candidates in priority districts. With these results, we’re one step closer to achieving a climate majority in the state legislature that will consistently introduce and support bold solutions.

Help us ensure all our climate champions win their general election races in November with a donation to our Elect Climate Champions Fund PAC >>

There is a clear paradigm shift in California, friend — oil money is becoming more and more toxic. In fact, despite corporate polluters outspending us 3 to 1, our climate candidates mostly all advanced in their races!

Legislators used to think that taking corporate polluter money was the pathway to victory, but this year’s primary results show that not only is this dirty money no longer helping candidates, it can be a liability.

For instance, environmental voters vanquished the oil-backed Villapuduas in the Stockton/San Joaquin Valley region and elected two climate leaders to the legislature.

In Senate District 5, former Congressmember Jerry McNerney came out of retirement to challenge Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, who earned a 32% score in EnviroVoters’ 2023 Environmental Scorecard and is one of the legislature’s most conservative Democrats.

Even with significant corporate polluter money — one oil PAC spent $700,000 alone — Villapudua finished in a distant third place behind McNerney. And Villapudua’s wife Edith also failed to advance to the general election in Assembly District 13, where our climate justice champion Rhodesia Ransom emerged victorious.

With support from voters like you, EnviroVoters made a big impact in winning these two critical races. Through Give Green California, our new platform that makes it easy to support state and local candidates, we fundraised directly for the McNerney and Ransom campaigns to help offset all of the corporate polluter money flowing to the Villapuduas. We also helped boost their name recognition and experience, mobilized volunteers to Get Out the Vote, and educated voters through our mail and digital expenditure efforts on which candidates shared their values and which ones aligned with corporate polluters.

Friend, the environmental and progressive community will never match corporate polluters’ war chest, but when we come together, our movement is a force to be reckoned with. But just because their money is becoming less effective doesn’t mean corporate polluters won’t keep spending tens of millions to defeat us.

If you haven’t yet, will you chip in a few dollars to give our Elect Climate Champions Fund PAC the resources it needs to boost our climate champion candidates in the general election and defeat Big Oil?

Thanks for being with us.

- Mike Young, California Environmental Voters

------ Begin Forwarded Message ------

From: Mary Creasman, California Environmental Voters

To: [email protected]

Date: March 6, 2024

Subject: Update on CA Primary Results

Friend, I’m excited to give you an update on where things stand the day after the California Primary Election.

While many races have not yet been called, and numbers are still changing, we can safely say that Californians overwhelmingly voted for candidates who will protect communities now and in the future. In a low-turnout primary cycle, despite being outspent 10 to 1, we beat back Big Oil in most of the toughest fights in the state.

Here’s what we know:

A great night for state legislative climate candidates

Our climate champion candidates running for Assembly and Senate had some huge victories. In Central Valley battleground districts, pro-climate justice candidates Rhodesia Ransom (Assembly District 13) and Jerry McNerney (Senate District 5) beat out corporate-funded Democrats for the future of California politics. In Los Angeles, Sasha Renée Pérez (SD-25), Nick Schultz (AD-44), and John Harabedian (AD-41) are on track to defend climate champion seats.

With California’s jungle primary system, many races like those are all but decided in the primary, whereas others — usually Democrat vs. Democrat — will still be hotly contested in the general election. Sade Elhawary (AD-57) made the runoff to take on a corporate polluter candidate in November, while Michelle Chambers (SD-35) is currently hanging onto second place in her L.A race.

A greener House of Representatives

We are poised to send the strongest environmental leadership class to the House ever. Laura Friedman (CA-30) and Luz Rivas (CA-29) — both longtime climate justice warriors in the legislature — won their L.A. races. Gil Cisneros (CA-31) defeated oil-backed Susan Rubio in the San Gabriel Valley, and Lateefah Simon (CA-12) triumphed in the Bay Area. Dave Min, EnviroVoters’ endorsed candidate in CA-47, will finish in the top two in what will be a very competitive general election race in Orange County.

Oil money is toxic, and Big Oil knows it

In the last two weeks, corporate polluters pushed over $8 million into key swing races, clearly trying to sidestep our recent winning strategy of using their spending against them by educating voters on who the oil-backed candidates are. This last-minute push highlights that Big Oil knows their money is toxic in politics, especially with the number of Democratic legislators directly taking oil contributions dropping from 54% in 2022 to 38% in 2023. Candidates know 79% of voters across party lines are more likely to support elected officials who don’t take oil and gas money.

Will you make a donation to give our Elect Climate Champions Fund PAC the resources to ensure climate champion candidates continue defeating Big Oil in November?

Congratulations to Adam Schiff

Congressman Schiff is on course to be the next U.S. Senator from California. He put out a climate plan at our behest, and we’re excited to continue working with him to push for a bold vision on climate in the Senate.

Our work isn’t over yet

A majority of climate leaders are heading into the general election, but we have a lot of work to do before November. With primary turnout projected to be even lower than the last presidential primary in 2020 (and yet we still defeated Big Oil in so many races!), Getting Out the Vote in November will be essential for climate victories statewide and federally.

We still need to flip some seats in the general election to achieve an environmental majority in the state legislature. The path for Democrats retaking the House and acting on climate runs through California. And Donald Trump defeating Nikki Haley so handedly here is a reminder that California isn’t necessarily as crystal clear blue as one might think, especially given the specific kind of anti-environment MAGA voters he brings out.

A total team effort

Big wins don't happen alone. We’re grateful for all our partners this cycle: the Consumer Attorneys of California, UFCW, SEIU, the Black Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, and the Women’s Caucus. This election once again proves that when we come together, we can defeat corporate polluters.

But after an embarrassing primary, corporate polluters will no doubt double down on their efforts to stop climate champions in the general election. Please make a gift to our Elect Climate Champions Fund PAC to help get the rest of our climate champions past Big Oil and through the finish line. We cannot do this without you.

Thank you for being an EnviroVoter.

California Environmental Voters
1111 Broadway, Suite 300
Oakland, CA 94607
United States 

+15102710900 | [email protected]

EnviroVoters is hiring! Join us to work on critical climate legislation work.

California Environmental Voters (EnviroVoters) exists to build the political power to solve the climate crisis, advance justice, and create a roadmap for global action. To protect our air, land, water, and future, we organize voters, elect and train candidates, and hold lawmakers accountable for bold policy change. Our vision is to solve the climate crisis, build resilient, connected, healthy communities, and create a democracy and economy that is just and sustainable for all.

 Contributions to Elect Climate Champions Fund sponsored by California Environmental Voters and to candidate committees are not tax deductible as charitable contributions. Contributors of $100 or more in a calendar year will be disclosed on state reports. Elect Climate Champions Fund is a registered committee with California (ID# 743094).

We may not accept contributions which have been reimbursed by another person unless you inform us of the true source of the contribution; we may also not accept contributions from foreign nationals. Contributions from lawfully-admitted permanent residents of the United States (green-card holders) are permitted.

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