In Case You Missed It: Politico Pro Newsletter: Less Than Half of Voters Support California’s EV mandate

Related: Maryland Governor Moore Delays Gas Vehicle Ban

SACRAMENTO—Today’s Politico Pro newsletter highlighted a new poll showing less than half (45 percent) of registered voters support California’s strict vehicle emissions rules to gradually phase out the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, which reinforces the findings of a separate poll by Tulchin Research (see below). The news arrives on the heels of an executive order by Maryland Governor Wes Moore authorizing a two-year enforcement delay of the state’s EV mandate. 

“The Moore-Miller Administration remains committed to the successful implementation of the State's clean car and truck programs, but recognizes that temporary short-term measures are necessary to ensure the programs' long-term success,” Governor Moore wrote in his EO. 

Governor Moore’s executive order notes that the Trump Administration’s policies on electric vehicles (EVs), including trade tariffs and the removal of federal funding for EV charging ports, make it more difficult for vehicle manufacturers to comply with the EV mandate. 

“This is about making real progress on the transition to clean transportation while giving manufacturers, dealers, and Marylanders a fair shot to prepare,” wrote a spokesperson for Moore.

In 2023, Maryland adopted California’s zero-emission vehicle mandate, known as the Advanced Clean Cars II. Governor Moore’s new EO sets the stage for an implementation delay for model years 2027 and 2028.

Politico’s new California survey findings align with a new poll by Tulchin Research that found that 61% of voters oppose the state’s EV mandate after learning the details of the policy. 48% of respondents strongly opposed the policy after learning about it, and just 13% said they strongly supported it. 

The opposition in the Tulchin poll spanned demographic and geographic lines:

• 66% of Latino voters, 58% of white voters, 54% of Black voters, and 52% of Asian American voters opposed the mandate.

• Regionally, 68% of voters in the Central Valley and 56% in the Bay Area opposed the plan.

  
  

Under California’s current Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC 2) mandate, automakers must ensure 35% of all new car sales are zero-emission starting this year, ramping up annually until 2035, when new gas-powered car sales will be fully banned. But the latest data shows demand for zero-emission vehicles has stalled—sales grew just 0.3% in 2024, a sharp decline from significant annual growth seen over previous years.

Politico and the UC Berkeley Citrin Center have not yet released their full survey. Their poll was conducted by TrueDot.ai from April 1–14, sampling 1,025 California registered voters (provided by Verasight) and 718 policy influencers, including lawmakers, staffers, and subscribers to POLITICO’s California newsletters. The separate poll from Tulchin Research surveyed 1,000 likely 2026 voters across California. The Tulchin poll was available in both English and Spanish.

Today’s Politico Pro newsletter is available to subscribers here. 

More information, including an explainer video, can be found at CalibrateCA.org.