EDF Action Launches $100,000 Mail Program in California 48 Congressional Race

Mail program educates voters about Scott Baugh’s “dismal” voting record and legal run-ins

May 18, 2018
Contact:
Keith Gaby, kgaby@edfaction.org, (202) 572-3336

(May 18, 2018 - Washington, D.C.) – Today, EDF Action announced a new $100,000 mail program opposing lobbyist and former Assemblyman Scott Baugh in California’s 48th Congressional District. The mail program educates voters on Baugh’s past legal troubles—including his being indicted on multiple felony charges and being forced to pay a $47,900 civil fine in connection with illegal campaign activities—as well as Baugh’s bad voting record in Sacramento on clean air and water protections.

“Orange County voters care about clean air, safe water, and a healthy environment,” said Joe Bonfiglio, President of EDF Action. “Voters in this district deserve the chance to cast their vote for a pro-environment candidate in November. Scott Baugh is clearly not that candidate. Rather, lobbyist Scott Baugh would ensure the status quo in Washington and offer no real choice in the general election. Baugh had a dismal record on environmental issues in the Assembly, questioned climate science and cannot be trusted to protect public health in Congress.”

Baugh served in the California State Assembly from 1995-2000, where his bad environmental record earned consistently low ratings on California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) annual scorecards, including three scores of “zero.” Baugh cast anti-environment votes on issues including water pollution, air pollution, energy, conservation, and toxic chemicals [CLCV, California Environmental Scorecard, 1997; CLCV, California Environmental Scorecard, 2000]. More recently, Baugh questioned the “credibility” of scientists who say global warming is man-made [Source: Orange County Register, 12/28/12].

Baugh is facing off against incumbent Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, as well as multiple Democratic challengers in the June 5th primary for one of two spots on the November ballot.

The new mail program marks the first electoral engagement of the 2018 cycle by EDF Action. In 2016, EDF Action spent more than $7 million in 13 races and in pivotal battleground states, supporting pro-environment candidates on both sides of the aisle.