TO: Interested parties
FROM: Dan Crawford, Conservation Votes PAC
(919) 839-0020 | dan@nclcv.org
DATE: Tuesday, November 9, 2022
RE: NCLCV POST-ELECTION MEMO: Our substantial investment of over $1 million in electing environmental champions and protecting democracy in North Carolina made a significant positive difference, maintaining Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto by preventing a supermajority in the state House.
In 2022, Conservation Votes PAC (CVP), the independent expenditure arm of the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) and the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, spent over $1 million on state races, voter registration, and GOTV to achieve its top goal of preventing a legislative supermajority to protect our climate with Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. We supported climate champions in the state House and Senate, winning 83% of our endorsed races in the Legislature. This year is CVP’s fourth consecutive electoral cycle investment of over $1 million.
2022 continues CVP’s nine-year strategy to build pro-environment leadership in our state. This started with electing leaders to the state House in 2014, continued with Gov. Cooper’s election in 2016, and then ramped up with 2018’s effort to break the anti-environment legislative supermajority, which we sustained in 2020. That successful campaign grew our Green Caucus, which continued to maintain Gov. Cooper’s veto this year by preventing a supermajority in the House. This has a real impact on our ability to protect our environment and our democracy by staving off the worst policy attacks at the Legislature.
“Facing an onslaught of unprecedented funding from pro-polluter donors, the Conservation Voters PAC kept the protection of our climate and our democracy front and center,” said Dan Crawford, director of government relations for NCLCV and head of the CVP. “We held the line for Gov. Cooper to continue to protect the people of North Carolina against extreme legislation.”
In addition to our over $1 million investment in state races and democracy building this year, our national partner LCV Victory Fund (LCVVF) separately made investments in federal races in North Carolina on behalf of Cheri Beasley for Senate and Wiley Nickel in the 13th Congressional District. And LCV’s GreenRoots member mobilization program turned out LCV members to volunteer for the Jeff Jackson (NC-14) and Wiley Nickel campaigns as part of a nationwide field program to help elect environmental champions that engaged 8,250 total LCV members.
On top of this independent expenditure work from CVP and LCVVF, environmental advocates across the country donated over $650,000 directly to North Carolina candidates through the GiveGreen platform.
Additionally, for the first time ever, NCLCV and the NC Sierra Club partnered to produce a GreenVoter Guide. This guide included information on each endorsed pro-climate candidate (88 total), a link to their website, and the ability to make a donation directly to each candidate. In addition, voters were able to get information about registering to vote, how to vote, and election updates.
Separately, NC League of Conservation Voters Foundation’s Power the Vote program registered over 23,000 voters in 2022, which brings our total to nearly 110,000 since 2014.
See below for an overview of CVP’s political work and NCLCV’s democracy efforts.
$1.075 Million Invested in Elections and Democracy
CVP’s nearly $775,000 investment in 2022 independent electoral spending went toward mail, and digital advertising outreach both statewide and in targeted legislative districts.
| Race | CVP Supported | Lifetime Score* | Opponent |
| NC Supreme Court | Justice Sam J. Ervin, III | N/A | Trey Allen |
| NC Supreme Court | Judge Lucy Inman | N/A | Judge Richard Dietz |
| SENATE | |||
| SD 3 | Valerie Jordan | N/A | Bobby Hanig |
| SD 5 | Kandie Smith | 93% | Karen Kozel |
| SD 7 | Marcia Morgan | N/A | Michael Lee |
| SD 11 | Mark Speed | N/A | Lisa Stone Barnes |
| SD 13 | Lisa Grafstein | N/A | David Bankert |
| SD 14 | Dan Blue | 83% | Chris Baker |
| SD 15 | Jay Chaudhuri | 100% | Emanuela Prister |
| SD 16 | Gale Adcock | 93% | James Powers |
| SD 17 | Sydney Batch | 92% | Mark Cavaliero |
| SD 18 | Mary Wills Bode | N/A | E.C. Sykes |
| SD 20 | Natalie Murdock | 100% | Alvin Reed |
| SD 22 | Mike Woodard | 100% | Larry Coleman |
| SD 23 | Graig Meyer | 94% | Landon Woods |
| SD 25 | Sean Ewing | N/A | Amy Scott Galey |
| SD 27 | Michael Garrett | 95% | Richard Sessoms |
| SD 28 | Gladys Robinson | 81% | Paul Schumacher |
| SD 38 | Mujtaba Mohammed | 100% | none |
| SD 39 | DeAndrea Salvador | 89% | Mark Robeson |
| SD 40 | Joyce Waddell | 85% | Bobbie Shields |
| SD 41 | Natasha Marcus | 95% | Bonni Leone |
| SD 42 | Rachel Hunt | 100% | Cheryl Russo |
| SD 49 | Julie Mayfield | 90% | John Anderson |
| Race | CVP Supported | Lifetime Score* | Opponent |
| HOUSE | |||
| HD 2 | Ray Jeffers | N/A | Larry Yarborough |
| HD 8 | Gloristine Brown | N/A | Charles (Drock) Vincent |
| HD 9 | Brian Farkas | 92% | Timothy Reeder |
| HD 11 | Allison Dahle | 94% | none |
| HD 18 | Deb Butler | 100% | John Hinnant |
| HD 20 | Amy Block Deloach | N/A | Ted Davis, Jr. |
| HD 21 | Ya Liu | N/A | Gerard Falzon |
| HD 24 | Linda Cooper-Suggs | 100% | Ken Fontenot |
| HD 25 | James D. Gailliard | 89% | Allen Chesser |
| HD 29 | Vernetta Alston | 100% | none |
| HD 30 | Marcia Morey | 100% | William Antico |
| HD 31 | Zack Hawkins | 94% | |
| HD 32 | Terry Garrison | 90% | Frank Sossamon |
| HD 33 | Rosa Gill | 94% | Stephanie Dingee |
| HD 34 | Tim Longest | N/A | Ashley Seshul |
| HD 35 | Terence Everitt | 100% | Fred Von Cannon |
| HD 36 | Julie von Haefen | 100% | John Harris |
| HD 40 | Joe John | 97% | Marilyn Avila |
| HD 41 | Maria Cervania | N/A | Bruce Forster |
| HD 44 | Charles Smith | N/A | none |
| HD 45 | Frances Jackson | N/A | Susan Chapman |
| HD 48 | Garland Pierce | 79% | Melissa Swarbrick |
| HD 49 | Cynthia Ball | 100% | David Robertson |
| HD 50 | Renee Price | N/A | Charles Lopez |
| HD 54 | Robert Reives | 94% | Walter Petty |
| HD 56 | Allen Buansi | N/A | none |
| HD 57 | Ashton Clemmons | 94% | Michelle Bardsley |
| HD 58 | Amos Quick | 100% | Chrissy Smith |
| HD 60 | Cecil Brockman | 89% | Bob Blasingame |
| HD 61 | Pricey Harrison | 100% | none |
| HD 63 | Ricky Hurtado | 100% | Stephen Ross |
| HD 66 | Sarah Crawford | 100% | Ives Brizuela de Sholar |
| HD 71 | Kanika Brown | N/A | none |
| HD 72 | Amber Baker | 100% | Shelton Stallworthy |
| HD 73 | Diamond Staton-Williams | N/A | Brian Echevarria |
| HD 74 | Carla Catalan Day | N/A | Jeff Zenger |
| HD 88 | Mary Belk | 100% | Anne Marie Peacock |
| HD 92 | Terry Brown | 100% | Mario Robinson, Sr. |
| HD 98 | Christy Clark | 2019 100% | John Bradford III |
| HD 99 | Nasif Majeed | 83% | Elsa Karman |
| HD 100 | John Autry | 100% | none |
| HD 101 | Carolyn Logan | 100% | Steve Mauney |
| HD 102 | Becky Carney | 81% | Cynthia Eleanor Clementi |
| HD 103 | Laura Budd | N/A | Bill Brawley |
| HD 104 | Brandon Lofton | 100% | Don Pomeroy |
| HD 105 | Wesley Harris | 100% | Joshua Niday |
| HD 107 | Kelly Alexander | 78% | Mark Alan Cook |
| HD 114 | Eric Ager | 98% | Everett Pittillo |
| HD 115 | Lindsey Prather | N/A | Pratik Bhakta |
| HD 116 | Caleb Rudow | N/A | Mollie Rose |
Bold name = winning endorsee
* Lifetime environmental score from NCLCV’s legislative scorecard
- Digital: Over $490,000 in digital program focused on persuading and turning out voters across these races.
- Mail: Over $277,000 in mail program focused on persuading and turning out voters across these races.
- Canvass: Our nonpartisan NC League of Conservation Voters(c4) spent $300,000 on direct voter contact in Raleigh and Winston-Salem to engage fall off voters early to build power and expand the electorate across key constituencies needed in 2022. This outreach focused on clean energy and clean energy jobs.
Total expenditure: $1,074,825
Representation Matters
NCLCV’s family of organizations has been working to boost its support for historically underrepresented communities, and that shows in this year’s political work 58% of the candidates NCLCV’s Conservation PAC endorsed in 2020 identify as women, and 50% identify as people of color.
Moving Forward
If North Carolinians are able to sustain their efforts to overcome gerrymandering in the U.S. Supreme Court, continue to fight voter suppression and follow their values with their votes, they will be one step closer to cleaner water, cleaner air, and cleaner energy for this and future generations. This only happens with leaders in power who advocate for these popular priorities. That is why CVP continues to invest in electing people who are committed to advancing democracy and protecting every North Carolinian’s health and quality of life. Regardless of last night’s results, our work will continue.
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This information is paid for by the Conservation Votes Political Action Committee.
This message was made independent of any candidate or political party.
The North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) is a pragmatic, results-oriented, nonpartisan advocacy and political organization whose mission is to protect the health and quality of life for all North Carolinians, with an intentional focus on systematically excluded communities of color. We elect environmental champions, advocate for environmental policies that protect our communities, and hold elected leaders accountable for their decisions. We have worked for 50 years to create the political environment that will protect our natural environment.
