EDF Action Applauds Success of Pro-Environmental Candidates in California’s 48th District
EDF Action spent $100K in CA-48 to ensure Orange County had a pro-environment option in November
Contact:
NEWS RELEASE
(June 6, 2018 - Washington, D.C.) EDF Action applauds the results in California’s 48th District that will ensure that a pro-environmental candidate will be on the ballot in November. EDF Action spent $100,000 on a mail program opposing lobbyist and former Assemblyman Scott Baugh in California’s 48th Congressional District, who failed to secure a spot in the general election. The EDF Action program sought to avoid a scenario in which voters were faced with only anti-environment candidates in November.
“We are proud to have helped avoid a ballot debacle for pro-environment voters in Orange County,” said Joe Bonfiglio, President of EDF Action. “Orange County voters care about clean air, safe water, and a healthy environment and they deserve the chance to cast their vote for a pro-environment candidate in November. Both Scott Baugh and Dana Rohrabacher have dismal records on these issues and would have offered an unacceptable choice.”
Many election-watchers feared that California’s top two primary system could leave voters in CA-48 choosing between incumbent Dana Rohrabacher and former Assemblyman Scott Baugh, both of whom have weak environmental records. Rohrabacher has called global warming a “fraud” and Baugh questioned the “credibility” of scientists who say global warming is man-made.
While just 73 votes separated Democrats Harley Rouda and Hans Keirstad, both have environmental records that stand in stark contrast to Rohrabacher and Baugh. Both led Baugh by 1,000 votes as of Wednesday morning.
Harley Rouda seems poised to face off against Rohrabacher in November and supports bi-partisan progress to protect California’s water and combat climate change. Scientist Hans Keirstad supports efforts to promote clean energy and combat climate change.
EDF Action’s $100,000 mail program in CA-48 marked 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.
