For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021
Media contact:
Lee Francis | Deputy Director
Virginia League of Conservation Voters
(434) 989-3197 | lfrancis@valcv.org
Investments come as Youngkin admits he ‘doesn’t know what causes climate change,’ Trump spreads his ‘Big Lie’ at Youngkin campaign rally
RICHMOND – With only 14 days until Election Day, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters Political Action Committee (VALCV-PAC) today announced an additional $400,000 investment in its 2021 electoral program, bringing the organization’s total investment in this cycle to more than $2.4 million in an effort to elect Terry McAuliffe Governor and maintain Virginia’s Conservation Majority.
“This election is absolutely consequential to ensuring Virginia keeps moving forward on climate action, environmental protection, and a just clean energy economy that benefits all Virginians,” said Michael Town, campaign director of VALCV-PAC. “Glenn Youngkin just said he isn’t smart enough to know what causes climate change – we can’t afford four years of his leadership in Richmond. That’s why we are upping our investment this cycle to re-elect Terry McAuliffe and secure a pro-conservation House of Delegates.”
VALCV-PAC’s additional investments come at a pivotal time in the campaign, as polls show an incredibly tight race up and down the ticket. The increased spending also comes as Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin’s close ties and parallels to Donald Trump come into clearer view.
In a recent interview on WAVY-TV, Youngkin downplayed the role that human activities play in causing climate change, saying he “doesn’t know what causes climate change” and that “all living beings play a part.” And last Tuesday, Trump himself stumped for Youngkin, spreading dangerous conspiracy theories and calling for efforts to undermine our democracy and restrict voting rights.
The additional $400,000 investment will be divided the following way:
- $150,000 directly to the McAuliffe campaign;
- $180,000 in additional funding for the coordinated field effort;
- $70,000 to boost our existing nine-district digital campaign, while adding a 10th district: HD-40 (Helmer).
Programmatic investments in the 2021 race from VALCV-PAC already made this cycle include:
- Mail: $205,000 to run targeted mail programs in three House districts: HD-10 (Gooditis), HD-28 (Cole), and HD-83 (Guy). The six-piece flights in each district include pieces like this one in HD-10, this one in HD-28, and this one in HD-83.
- Digital: $300,000 to run digital programs in nine battleground House Districts: HD-10 (Gooditis), HD-21 (Convirs-Fowler), HD-27 (Gardner), HD-28 (Cole), HD-63 (Aird), HD-73 (Willett), HD-75 (Tyler), HD-83 (Guy) and HD-85 (Askew).
- Partnerships: $800,000 to support field canvass and communications programs being run by our partners at BlackPAC and New Virginia Majority.
- GreenRoots: $100,000 GreenRoots program with 6 organizers on the ground supporting the coordinated field programs to work in five target House districts: HD-27 (Gardner), HD-73 (Willett), HD-83 (Guy), HD-85 (Askew) and HD-91 (Mugler).
- Direct Contributions: $500,000 to the McAuliffe campaign for communications. Additionally, VALCV-PAC will be spending up to $100,000 between now and Election Day supporting candidates for office.
The Conservation Majority has, in just the past two years, delivered on a host of environmental priorities that address climate change, expand clean energy, protect clean water and public lands, and cut harmful pollution. Our opposition in this race would roll back much of this progress, making it imperative that voters know exactly what’s at stake on Nov. 2. This is why the bulk of our campaign hinges on direct communication and engagement with voters – work that VALCV-PAC will carry through Election Day.
More information about VALCV-PAC’s electoral and endorsement efforts is available at www.valcvpac.org.
About us:
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters PAC endorses and works to elect conservation champions to state office to ensure that Virginians’ strong environmental values are translated to long-term political and legislative victories for clean air, clean water and protected open space. For more information, visit www.valcvpac.org.
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