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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With mail ballots set to land in California mailboxes within two weeks, Reform California on Monday launched its first television and digital advertising campaign backing Proposition 39, the November ballot measure that would require voter identification statewide. The group is putting an initial $1 million behind broadcast, cable and digital placements, with a second wave of ads aimed at turning out lower-propensity voters who campaign strategists believe could decide the measure's fate.
Leading the charge is Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California and a principal author of Prop. 39, who has spent much of 2026 building what he describes as an unusual coalition for a voter ID measure: one that includes Democrats and independents alongside the measure's Republican base.
Prop. 39 would require voters to present a government-issued ID at the polls and provide the last four digits of an ID number to cast a mail ballot. It also directs election officials to verify voter citizenship and keep voter rolls current, with free ID cards available to voters who don't already have one. If it passes, California would become the 37th state to require some form of voter identification.
Supporters submitted more than 1.3 million signatures to qualify the initiative in April, and DeMaio says the coalition behind it has always been broader than critics acknowledge — pointing to nearly half of those signatures coming from registered Democratic and independent voters.
"Prop. 39 is the bipartisan solution to Voter ID that improves trust in our democracy through balanced and common-sense reforms — and that's why it is supported by Democratic and Independent voters," DeMaio said.
That bipartisan framing is also the centerpiece of the campaign's first TV spot, titled "Yes You Can! The Bipartisan Solution for Voter ID."
The provocative ad begins by asking the question "Can you dislike Donald Trump and still vote YES on Prop 39 for Voter ID?" The ad goes on to draw a direct contrast between Prop. 39 and the voter ID push coming out of Washington. Where President Trump has championed the federal SAVE Act as part of a broader push on voter eligibility documentation, DeMaio argues Prop. 39 was written as a distinct, California-tailored compromise that draws from national best practices from Blue and Red states alike.
DeMaio has grown increasingly pointed about how his opponents are characterizing the measure. Several Democratic officials, including U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, have opposed Prop. 39 and at times described it as part of a "Trump-led effort," a characterization DeMaio rejects outright.
"Our TV ad directly responds to the grossly dishonest attack ads being run by California politicians who simply want to inject toxic partisanship into this campaign because they thrive on division and can't accept bipartisan solutions being offered through this citizens' initiative," DeMaio said.
Prop 39-Yes You Can! The Bipartisan Solution for Voter ID
He put it more bluntly when asked why he believes Sacramento Democrats have fought so hard against a measure he insists has crossover appeal.
"In a time of bitter partisan food fights and division, Prop 39 is a real bipartisan solution — and perhaps that's why politicians hate it so much," DeMaio said. "Because if we can solve voter ID in a bipartisan way, then perhaps we can solve other issues using the same collaborative approach."
The measure has drawn a well-funded opposition of its own, including the California Democratic Party, the ACLU, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and major labor unions such as SEIU California and the California Teachers Association, who argue the ID requirement could make voting harder for eligible Californians who lack a driver's license — including low-income voters, people with disabilities and those who have recently moved. A state judge also ordered supporters to rewrite portions of their official ballot argument after finding some of the campaign's claims about the measure's effects overstated.
DeMaio's campaign is banking on the idea that the measure's official ballot language — which polling suggests initially skews unfavorable — is masking underlying support. Internal and public polling this summer showed the race essentially even once voters are told what Prop. 39 actually does, according to the campaign, even as an August survey found the measure trailing on its formal ballot title alone.
To close that gap, Reform California has committed nearly $8 million to distribute "Plain English" voter guides by mail, text and door-to-door canvassing across the state, with Prop. 39 as the centerpiece of that outreach. The campaign's second ad, "Return Your Ballot — Every Vote Is Needed," is aimed squarely at persuadable, lower-turnout voters the campaign believes could provide the margin of victory when ballots are counted after the Nov. 3 election.
Prop 39 - Return Your Ballot - Every Vote Is Needed
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