DeMaio Names 12 Democrat Legislators as Targets of Campaign to Defeat the Water Tax

In 2018, State Senator Josh Newman was successfully recalled from office over his decision to cast the deciding vote on the controversial Gas Tax hike. In light of equally-controversial Water Tax being proposed in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget, Reform California announced it is targeting 12 state legislators (4 state Senators, 8 Assemblymembers) over the issue in an attempt to either block the Water Tax from being passed OR to use it as a wedge issue to defeat these legislators in the 2020 cycle.

“Sacramento politicians are hereby put on notice that if they vote to impose a costly and unfair Water Tax on California’s already-struggling working families they will face consequences at the ballot box,” said Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California.

Targeted Members of the Assembly
Brian Maienschein
Sharon Quirk-Silva
Sabrina Cervantes
Tasha Horvath
Cottie Petrie-Norris
Jacqui Irwin
Christy Smith
James Ramos

Targeted State Senators
Richard Roth
Tom Umberg
Melissa Hurtado
Anna Caballero

These 12 legislators are seen as the most vulnerable members of the state legislature – and more importantly, if 3 State Senators or 7 Members of the Assembly announce their opposition to the Water Tax, it would effectively be killed as any tax hike requires a two-thirds vote in BOTH chambers to pass.

The Water Tax Weakling campaign will include 30-second ads, Facebook ads, text messaging and phone outreach, and storefront canvassing to reach more than 1.5 million high-propensity voters in each of the 12 districts held by the targeted legislators. Voters will be informed of their representative’s unacceptable position on the Water Tax and will be asked to sign a petition to oppose the Water Tax. Links to all campaign creative materials and the Water Tax Petition is at StopTheWaterTax.com