New Jersey LCV Investments Lead to Historic Pro-Environment Wins in New Jersey Elections
TRENTON – New Jersey League of Conservation Voters (New Jersey LCV), the political voice for the environment in New Jersey, helped Governor Murphy win a historic victory in this month’s election, outperforming 44 years where first term Democratic Governors who failed to secure reelection, thanks to strong investments from environmental advocates.
New Jersey LCV invested more than a quarter of a million dollars through its coordinated (New Jersey League of Conservation Voters PAC) and independent expenditure (New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund) arms, to elect pro-environment candidates from governor to borough council.
“In a close election and in the face of a resurgent conservative movement, our investments, door knocking, mailings, digital advertising, phones calls, and text messaging helped power Governor Murphy and other environmental champions up and down the ballot to victory,” said Ed Potosnak, Executive Director of New Jersey LCV. “New Jersey LCV educated voters about the high stakes this election held for the environment and turned out voters to the polls to vote for the environment supporting the Governor’s record on renewable energy, open space preservation, and the protection of our air and clean drinking water. These election investments were critical to Governor Murphy’s history-making victory as the first Democratic governor to win re-election in New Jersey in more than 40 years.”
New Jersey LCV’s spending supported nearly 2.3 million voter contacts in all corners of the state; including sending more than 75,000 pieces of mail and texting nearly 117,000 voters. New Jersey LCV’s digital ads were also viewed more than two million times.
Last week’s election also marked the most extensive set of endorsements in New Jersey LCV’s history, including every level of state and local government, women and people of color. In addition to the governor’s race and our environmental champions in the Legislature, LCV’s investments powered candidates for mayor and local governing bodies to victory.
To help ensure these victories, New Jersey LCV PAC embedded six organizers across the state to support candidates up and down the ballot.
Separate and apart from New Jersey LCV, the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund’s non-partisan voter education effort spent more than a quarter million dollars educating the public and decision makers about key environmental issues and additionally making 50,000 voter contacts. New Jersey LCV Education Fund has been working with more than 25 advocacy organizations — from the NAACP, to affordable housing advocates, and environmental groups — to develop a comprehensive Green in ’21 Environmental Policy Guide that lays out environmental policies for every level of government.
New Jersey LCV’s next steps are to work with the environmental champions we helped elect to realize this vision of a state that prioritizes green energy, open space protection, clean air and water, and justice for communities of color that have been left behind.
“We want to capitalize on last week’s historic victories by working with our champions from both parties and at all levels of government to promote policies that advance key environmental priorities,” Potosnak said. “This includes meeting President Biden’s climate goals by transitioning to 100% clean electricity by 2035, ensuring that we have clean indoor air by moving away from fossil fuels, and keeping our state’s ambitious offshore wind plans on track.”