Vote Climate U.S. PAC
Vote Climate U.S. PAC is an American super PAC founded in 2013 and directed by American political activist Karyn Strickler.[1] Its mission is "to elect candidates to get off fossil fuels, transition to clean, renewable energy and put a price on carbon, in order to slow global warming and related weather extremes."[2] Strickler has named the implementation of a carbon tax as a principal goal.[3] As a super PAC (a type of political action committee), the organization cannot contribute to candidates but can make independent expenditures on their behalf.
History[edit]
2014[edit]
The PAC began operations with the 2014 midterm elections. It identified three top-priority races for the U.S. Senate and three for the U.S. House. It stated its selection criteria:
Priority races are in hotly contested, swing districts where:
- Victory is not guaranteed and support from climate voters and activists could make a difference.
- Climate change is a pivotal issue that could be the difference between victory and defeat.
- Priority candidates are leaders on the issue and there is a sharp distinction between them and their opponent on climate change.
- Victory could make a difference for the issue by electing or re-electing a climate leader.[4]
The PAC was successful in all three Senate races and in two of the three House races in 2014. Its candidates, all Democrats, were:
U.S. Senate
- Gary Peters (Michigan) (won)
- Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire) (won)
- Al Franken (Minnesota) (won)
U.S. House
- Pete Aguilar (CA 31) (won)
- Scott Peters (CA 52) (won)
- Andrew Romanoff (CO 6) (lost)
2016[edit]
Vote Climate U.S. PAC began preparation for the 2016 elections with production of the "Holy BLEEP Mabel" series, an ad campaign that follows the quirky couple Mabel and Manny as they experience weather extremes related to climate change.[5] The PAC sought donations to air the ad campaign during the election season, and reported that more than 442,000 people had viewed the ads.[6]
Election results[edit]
As in 2014, the PAC identified six critical races in hotly contested, swing districts with climate change leaders, for whom it implemented a paid, social media campaign. These priority candidates (all Democrats) and the results of the races were:
U.S. Senate
- Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire) (won)
- Russ Feingold (Wisconsin) (lost)
- Katie McGinty (Pennsylvania) (lost)
U.S. House
- Carol Shea-Porter (NH 1) (won)
- Brad Schneider (IL 10) (lost)
- Emily Cain (ME 2) (lost)
In addition to the six priority races, the PAC made other endorsements, stating:
These are climate-action candidates. Our endorsement recognizes their leadership on climate change. While Vote Climate U.S. PAC takes no credit for our endorsed candidate’s victories, 90% won their races - 100% in the U.S. Senate, 82% in the U.S. House.[6]
The endorsed candidates were
U.S. Senate Chris Van Hollen (D) MD - WINNER Chuck Schumer (D) NY - WINNER Kamala Harris (D) CA - WINNER Brian Schatz (D) HI - WINNER Patty Murray (D) WA - WINNER Richard Blumenthal (D) CT - WINNER Patrick Leahy (D) VT - WINNER Catherine Cortez Masto (D) NV - WINNER Ron Wyden (D) OR - WINNER
U.S. House Jamie Raskin (D) MD-8 - WINNER John Delaney (D) MD-6 - WINNER Don McEachin (D) VA-4 - WINNER Nanette Barragan (D) CA-44 - WINNER Ted Lieu (D) CA-33 - WINNER Salud Carbajal (D) CA-24 - WINNER Raja Krishnamoorthi (D) – IL-8 – WINNER John B. Larson (D) CT-1 - WINNER Earl Blumenauer (D) OR-3 - WINNER Morgan Carroll (D) CO-6 - Loss Shaughnessy Naughton (D) PA-8 - Loss
Concerning the 2016 results, the PAC stated:
Vote Climate U.S. PAC puts our hope in our 3 top priority winners, and our endorsed candidates, that in these challenging times, we might still make some progress on the issue of climate change and at least that they will obstruct attempts to move backwards before the 2018 election. We are proud of the racial and gender diversity that our top priority and endorsed candidates represent.[6]
Campaign work[edit]
Facebook Ad Campaign Overall Reach All Ads: 1,038,024 (Breakdown of some ads below)
Holy BLEEP Mabel Ad Results Reach: 618,946 REACHED U.S. Senate & U.S. House TOTAL 442,033 VIEWED 71% Average
U.S. Senate 344,038 U.S. SENATE REACH 238,091 VIDEO VIEWS 69%
Maggie Hassan (D) NH - WINNER 76,256 Reach/60,025 Views/79% Russ Feingold (D) WI - Loss Katie McGinty (D) PA - Loss U.S. House 273,537 HOUSE REACH 202,179 VIDEO VIEWS 74%
Carol Shea-Porter (D) NH-1 – WINNER 88,447 Reach/63,281 Views/70% Brad Schneider (D) IL-10 - WINNER 109,439 Reach/76,727 Views/70% Emily Cain (D) ME-2 - Loss Bliss or This Ad Results General Slide Show & Priority Candidate/Trump Slide Show Combined 62,840 Reach 42,225 67%
2018[edit]
Nearly every House race prioritized by the PAC was won by the climate hawk.[7]
See also[edit]
- Citizens' Climate Lobby
- Fossil fuels lobby
- League of Conservation Voters
- Public opinion on global warming
References[edit]
- ↑ Umair Irfan (November 1, 2018). "This group is helping voters make sense of which candidates take climate change seriously: The guide to House and Senate races scores candidates on their positions on climate change and a carbon price". Vox.com. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
- ↑ "Our Mission and Approach". Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Retrieved 2014-11-22.
- ↑ "Holy BLEEP Mabel - A Seriously Funny Project of Vote Climate Change U.S. PAC". Indiegogo. December 3, 2013. Retrieved 2014-11-22.
- ↑ "Priority Candidates". Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Retrieved 2014-11-22.
- ↑ "Holy BLEEP Mabel – Wildfire ad video". Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "2016 Election Results". Vote Climate U.S. PAC. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
- ↑ Jeff McMahon (November 7, 2018). "Midterm Results: Climate-Science Deniers Run Out Of U.S. House". Forbes.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
External links[edit]
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