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Top 5

November Top 5 2022 – Elections Recap

Nov 18, 2022

Together, we did it! Against long odds, political headwinds, and historical trends, last week, voters turned out and delivered a clear victory for climate and democracy in the 2022 elections. Thank you for being part of this effort!

LCV Victory Fund and partners invested more than $100 million to elect climate, justice, and pro-democracy leaders at all levels of the ballot this election cycle. We engaged two million Climate Voters, knocked on two million doors, and ran nearly 200 ads to build support for pro-environment candidates across the country. Environmental donors also helped raise a midterm record of $27 million in contributions directly for candidates through GiveGreen, a project of LCV Victory Fund and NRDC Action Votes. In doing so, we made the difference in close races and helped climate and democracy champions WIN.

Thanks to this work, pro-environment leadership will retain control of the U.S. Senate — with the Georgia race heading to runoff in December — and many incumbent and new climate champions will head to Congress. And thanks to the work of our state affiliates, there was a “green wave” in critical governors, state legislative, and other state and local races across the country — an outcome that will expand the landscape for climate and clean energy progress and help protect free and fair elections through 2024.

These victories didn’t happen by accident. They are the result of investing strategically to turn out millions of voters, supporting hundreds of pro-environment candidates, and mobilizing thousands of LCV members to volunteer with campaigns.

Click here for a brief video on how our movement achieved these historic results, and for a reminder of why we do this work for people and the planet.

And now, here are our Top 5 stories from the November 2022 elections:

1.) Memo: State Elections Saw a Green Wave in 2022

Across the country, state and local leaders who ran on climate action won — creating a green wave that will be critical for continued climate and clean energy progress. With the help of our state affiliates, nearly all of the governors who our movement helped elect in 2018 — and who have since ensured that more than 40% people in the U.S. now live in places committed to 100% clean energy — won reelection. Our state affiliates also helped new pro-environment governors win their races in Maryland and Massachusetts.

Other critical wins by our state affiliates include establishing two new pro-climate majorities in state legislatures in Michigan and Minnesota. These states, along with Maryland and Massachusetts, will have new pro-environment, pro-democracy trifectas — governor, state senate, and state house — beginning in 2023.

In 2023, we expect these leaders to advance state policies that will tackle the climate crisis, address environmental justice, and protect and strengthen democracy. Critically, these leaders will also help ensure that the federal investments in the Inflation Reduction Act are implemented equitably to benefit communities hardest hit by pollution.

READ about the climate and democracy champions who will serve as governors, state legislators, attorney generals, judges, and more here.

2.) We Held Pro-Environment, Pro-Democracy Leadership in the U.S. Senate

LCV Victory Fund and partners worked to turn out millions of climate voters in key states to support pro-environment candidates. We are thrilled with the re-election victories of Sens. Mark Kelly (AZ), Michael Bennet (CO), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), and Maggie Hassan (NH). Sen. Cortez Masto’s victory was especially close, decided by only 6,500 votes in a state where we knocked on 500,000 doors. LCV Victory Fund also invested heavily in Senator-elect John Fetterman’s race, which flipped Pennsylvania’s Senate seat and helped ensure that the Senate remains in pro-climate, pro-democracy control, and in Sen. Raphael Warnock’s race in Georgia, which will be decided by a runoff election on December 6.

Through 2024, we can rely on pro-environment, pro-democracy Senate leadership to continue working with President Biden on a climate and environmental justice agenda and to confirm judicial appointments that will shape our federal courts system for decades. This Senate will also serve as a backstop against the dangerous proposals we are likely to see from the new (although, much narrower than expected) pro-polluter, anti-democracy majority in the U.S. House.

3.) LCV Action Fund-Endorsed Candidates Head to Congress — and Make History

While we are disappointed that there will be a slim, anti-environment majority in the U.S. House in the next Congress, LCV congratulates the many LCV Action Fund-endorsed candidates who were victorious in the midterms. LCV Action Fund is proud to have helped to elect at least 33 (and counting) new environmental champions to Congress and re-elect at least 90  incumbent climate champions who passed the landmark Inflation Reduction Act. You can get to know all of the newly-elected LCV Action Fund-endorsed candidates in LCV’s 2022 New Member Guide.

Many of these candidates have made history with their elections and will build a Congress more reflective of our country’s racial and gender diversity. In the 2021-2022 election cycle, LCV Action Fund endorsed 181 candidates in federal races across the nation, of whom 38% identify as candidates of color, 48% identify as women, and 6% identify as LGBTQ+. As of Wednesday, 129 of 181 LCV Action Fund-endorsed candidates have won their elections.

For a list of all LCV Action Fund-endorsed candidates click here.

4.) Defeating the Dirty Dozen and the Dirty Dozen in the States

For more than 25 years, LCV Victory Fund’s Dirty Dozen program has targeted candidates — regardless of party affiliation — who consistently side against the environment and are running in races in which LCV Victory Fund has a serious chance to affect the outcome.

We are thrilled to report that as of this week, we have defeated nine of the 11 federal Dirty Dozen members whose races have been decided. (Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker could be number 10 in a runoff race to be held on December 6.) And 10 of 12 Dirty Dozen in the States members have also been defeated. Modeled on the federal Dirty Dozen, the Dirty Dozen in the States highlights twelve of the worst environmental candidates in the nation at the state and local level who have consistently sided against the environment and are a danger to our democracy, and who our state affiliates worked to defeat.

5.) Mobilizing LCV Members Through GreenRoots 

In every election since 2012, the GreenRoots program has mobilized LCV members to volunteer on behalf of LCV Action Fund-endorsed candidates. LCV members showed up in force this year to volunteer for climate champions, writing letters to voters, making calls, knocking on doors, and attending events to help Senate and House candidates win.

In 2022, more than 8,500 LCV members completed more than 15,500 volunteer shifts (and counting) to help elect LCV Action Fund-endorsed federal candidates in 15 states. GreenRoots is one of the largest coordinated field programs in progressive politics, and this year, it was part of the largest-ever joint effort by seven major environmental groups to mobilize their members to help elect pro-environment candidates.

READ stories of LCV members who volunteered in 2022, such as Cynthia in Arizona, Bob in Florida, and Magali in Pennsylvania. VIEW photos of GreenRoots volunteers in action here.