Campaign Watch: Conservation Wins Big in 2017 Elections

Conservation advocates around the nation were excited by the environmental and energy policy implications of last week’s results in the 2017 off-year elections.

Among the contests of special interest were races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, as well as a key special election for a state senate seat in Washington state. All three went the way that conservationists hoped.

In New Jersey, new governor-elect Phil Murphy campaigned on a high-profile effort for his state to transition to 100% clean energy. That helped secure his endorsement by the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund (NJLCVVF). (In today’s hyper-partisan political atmosphere, it’s also noteworthy that NJLCVVF’s support for an incumbent Republican legislator with a very good environmental record helped him to retain his seat even in a Democratic wave election. The environment still should not have to be a partisan issue.)

In Washington state, the Washington Conservation Voters Action Fund was instrumental in the victory of Manka Dhingra in a special election to fill an open State Senate seat. Dhingra’s victory flipped control of the Washington State Senate to the party of Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, giving him a better chance at enacting his agenda to combat climate change.

Finally, in Virginia, new Gov.-elect Ralph Northam, backed by the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, won a decisive victory. Northam campaigned as an unabashedly pro-environment candidate, and the dirty-energy champion Koch brothers’ network poured millions into ads designed to defeat Northam and elect his opponent Ed Gillespie.

Gillespie had been named by the national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) as one of its “Dirty Dozen in the States” list of the worst anti-environmental candidates. LCV said of the 2017 results that “clean energy is the big winner, and big polluters are the big loser.” See LCV’s more detailed analysis of nationwide results here.

For another interesting look at the clean energy implications of these contests, see the election-day prospective offered by the Washington Post’s daily energy policy column.

Around the state of North Carolina, municipal races for mayor and council members in multiple cities and towns wrapped up last week. Among the winners were Sierra Club endorsees for mayor in Raleigh (Nancy McFarlane), Durham (Steve Schewel) and Asheville (Esther Manheimer). While NCLCV has not historically endorsed in municipal contests, we have always encouraged our supporters to study and vote in those elections. Municipal elected officials have a substantial impact on decisions from land use and parks to stormwater management and wastewater treatment.

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