Steve Kuykendall (R)	47%
Jane Harman (D)	49%

Race Recap:

Voters in CaliforniaÆs 36th District who care about the quality of their air and water, had a clear choice in the race between Steve Kuykendall (R) and Jane Harman (D).  While in Congress and CaliforniaÆs State Assembly, Kuykendall worked to prevent state agencies from setting higher standards for clean air and drinking water.  He earned a dismal 33 percent environmental rating on LCVÆs 2000 National Environmental Scorecard.  In contrast, LCV-endorsed candidate Jane Harman will better serve the environmental concerns of the 36th District and will fight for cleaner air and water laws in Congress.

Key Polling Results:

LCV, working with Greenberg Quinlan Research, Inc., surveyed 400 likely voters in CaliforniaÆs 36th District from July 12-17, and again from Nov. 5-6, to determine the salience of environmental issues in this region.  Key poll findings include:

╖     In July, voters favored Harman over Kuykendall, 49 percent to 35 percent.  After learning more about KuykendallÆs anti-environment record, HarmanÆs lead grew by 19 points.

╖     KuykendallÆs votes to undermine CaliforniaÆs strong air and water standards raised serious doubts among 58 percent of those surveyed in July.  His votes against protecting children from harmful pesticides raised serious doubts among 62 percent of Independents and 68 percent of Independent women.

╖     Eighty-four percent of voters surveyed in November said that clean air and water issues played an important role in their voting decisions, with 41 percent saying the issues were very important.

Dirty Dozen Campaign Activities:

The LCV Action Fund named Kuykendall to its Dirty Dozen list of anti-environment candidates on June 21, 2000. Since then, LCVAF spent $235,000 to inform 26th District voters that when it came to fighting for clean air and water, Kuykendall was not on their side. 

In October, LCVAF launched a five-piece direct mail campaign focusing on votes against protecting children from harmful pesticides and to weaken clean air and water standards.  All told, the campaign sent 252,000 pieces of mail to 50,500 targeted households in the 36th District. 

LCVAF also conducted an extensive ôGet Out the Voteö effort in CaliforniaÆs 36th District District.  The campaign made nearly 36,000 persuasion phone calls to inform voters of KuykendallÆs anti-environmental record, and distributed 10,000 leaflets to targeted households in the district.  LCV President Deb Callahan visited the 36th District to take KuykendallÆs consistent record of votes against environment and public health protections directly to voters and the local media.  In the final weeks of the campaign, LCVAFÆs GOTV effort included 14,000 calls and 7,500 door-to-door visits.