Thank you for voting. Thank you for talking to your friends and family about difficult, important issues. Thank you for listening to candidates and asking tough questions, and thank you for using your resources to support environmental protection.
And, most of all, thank you for taking part in another election with important victories for the environment in our great state of California.
Upon winning re-election, President Obama declared, “We want our kids to grow up in an America… that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.” You know what that means for California: our leadership to stop climate change will be followed more closely, and we must show President Obama and the nation that the path forward starts here.
The path forward starts in California, because conservation voters help elect environmental champions. Our state’s Global Warming Solutions Act to reduce carbon emissions while generating revenue is a model for the United States. Because your support helped the plan’s author, State Senator Fran Pavley, win re-election despite a negative campaign funded by big polluters, we are confident that the landmark law she authored will only be the first of many strong steps toward a clean energy future.
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CLCV made endorsements throughout California, winning more than 92% of the races in which we made an endorsement. See all of CLCV’s endorsements and results for Assembly, State Senate, Congress, and more. |
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It’s even more satisfying to know that Senator Pavley will have excellent company in Sacramento. Our official CLCV-endorsed candidates won competitive races up and down the state. Of the 44 Assembly candidates we endorsed, 41 victories have been confirmed (and one remains too close to call). In State Senate races, 12 out of 13 CLCV-endorsed candidates won. We’re also sending environmental champions to Washington D.C. in Congressional races we prioritized—we successfully elected environmental champions in four and the outcome of the fifth, while close, looks promising.
Voters agreed: It’s time for serious solutions to the critical environmental challenges facing California.
That’s exactly why voters overwhelmingly approved Prop. 39 to close the unfair tax loophole and invest in clean energy. Out-of-state businesses will finally pay their fair share of taxes to strengthen California, and we’ll direct these funds toward clean energy projects that will create jobs while reducing pollution.
Crucially, voters also voted “Yes” on Prop. 30, which raises taxes to pay for education, health and public safety services throughout California. Political pundits are astonished that we passed Prop. 30 because voters have historically rejected tax increases – but history changes, and Californians have decided that we can afford good government and a bright future.
Californians are finding the path forward. Yet even here, the path can be steep. Proposition 37 would have required manufacturers to label food containing genetically modified ingredients, but the measure was defeated. Despite the disappointing result of Prop. 37, its supporters sparked an important state and national conversation about our food supply, and we’re confident Californians will be able to make meaningful progress on this issue in the near future.
Thanks to our supporters like you, CLCV’s work in this election included more than 1 million voter contacts and nearly $1 million invested in electing environmental champions. The grassroots-powered success of so many pro-environmental candidates and ballot propositions in this election demonstrate that real voters with real hopes and dreams for the future can be organized to defeat deep pockets even in the post-Citizens United era, and reflects Californians’ commitment to our environment, our public health and our future.
We can’t wait to see what we can do next—together.
