NextGen Climate Action, the super PAC bankrolled by billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer, will attack Republicans who deny man-made climate change in an effort to boost Democrats in the Senate and gubernatorial races that it has targeted.
Chief strategist Chris Lehane said the group’s “science denier week,” which NextGen Climate started Tuesday, would give Republicans “one last chance to come clean” about their views on climate change, which most climate scientists say is exacerbated by humans, primarily through burning fossil fuels. The initiative will include canvassing, mailers, TV and radio ads and emails in seven states.
The push comes as high-ranking Republicans have increasingly dodged questions about what they think is propelling climate change.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused to answer whether he believed in man-made climate change during a Monday debate against Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said during a Monday debate that he doesn’t know whether humans cause climate change, adding, “I don’t think science does, either.”
Still, climate change ranks low among issues voters are concerned about heading into the Nov. 4 elections.
Lehane contends that climate change is a high-profile issue, citing internal polling. That’s especially true if the message is tailored to the state, he said.
“When you actually talk about climate as it actually translates to people in the state, it does rise to a top-tier issue,” Lehane said.
Much of NextGen Climate’s efforts for Senate races in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan and New Hampshire and gubernatorial ones in Florida, Maine and Pennsylvania will target 1 million “drop-off” voters — those who vote in presidential but not midterm elections — who trend Democratic.
“With these voters, you’re not having to translate it into the same way that you have to for independents,” Lehane said.
The League of Conservation Voters, another top environmental group active in Senate races this year, also is focusing most of its $25 million war chest on targeting drop-off voters.
But that targeting could point to the limit of NextGen Climate’s bread and butter, which is climate change. So, too, could the group’s advertisements. In Colorado, the ads veered into hitting GOP Rep. Cory Gardner on abortion issues. In Iowa, NextGen Climate has attacked Republican candidate Joni Ernst on claims that she supported policies that pushed jobs overseas.
Relying on person-to-person interaction, however, is an expensive strategy. It’s one that Steyer, a former hedge-fund manager, has almost entirely funded. He has put more than $40 million into the group, netting just about $2 million from outside donors — far short of the $50 million he hoped to secure earlier this year.
In the Senate races, NextGen Climate has plunked nearly $4.7 million into the Colorado contest that has Gardner pitted against Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, according to the Los Angeles Times, which cited data from the Federal Elections Commission and OpenSecrets.org. NextGen Climate has spent about $3.2 million in Michigan, just above $3.1 million in Iowa and nearly $2.5 million in New Hampshire.
Florida’s governor race has attracted the most attention from the group, drawing $9.75 million. It also has dropped about $1.4 million in Pennsylvania and $1 million in Maine.
