NextGen America

NextGen America
Non-profit, Political Action Committee
Founded 2013 (2013)
Founder Tom Steyer
Website nextgenamerica.org

NextGen America is an environmental advocacy nonprofit and political action committee created in 2013 by billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer supporting candidates and policies that take action against climate change. It has typically criticized Republican candidates, but has also targeted Democrats who have failed to take a stance on climate change. [1] The organization has also been an opponent of the Keystone XL pipeline. [2]

History

Businessman Tom Steyer founded NextGen America (originally called NextGen Climate) in 2013, and serves as president. A former hedge-fund manager, Steyer pledged to donate the majority of his wealth to charitable causes in 2010. [3] He also became involved in the issue of climate change.[4] Later, Steyer made the decision to pull his money from environmentally unsound investments and focus on pushing climate change issues and policies. [2]

2014 election cycle

NextGen America’s political arm, super PAC NextGen Climate Action Committee, began lending support to candidates in 2013. They backed Democrat Edward Markey in the special election to fill Secretary John Kerry’s senate seat, [5] [6] as well as Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia race for governor against Republican Ken Cuccinelli. [2] The super PAC was a contributor in the 2014 midterm elections, targeting demographics believed to be most likely to vote based on environmental concerns. U.S. senate races in Michigan, Iowa, New Hampshire and Colorado were targeted in an effort to help Democrats maintain their majority in the U.S. Senate. It also supported gubernatorial candidates in Maine, Florida and Pennsylvania. [5] During the 2014 election cycle, five of the nine democratic candidates won their elections. [7] As of 2014, NextGen claimed to have opened 40 offices and made contact with over 1.5 million voters.[8]

2016 election cycle

In 2015, NextGen America stated that it planned to “punish” Republican presidential candidates for climate change skepticism. [9] It also said that candidates would have to pledge to enact an energy policy that would lead to a shift in 50% renewable energy use in the U.S. by 2030, and 100% by 2050, in order to receive its support.[10] In April 2016, it launched a campaign to register voters on college campuses in seven political battleground states. [11]

2018 election cycle

In January 2018, Steyer told reporters he would invest $30 million in an attempt to flip the House in the 2018 election in order to impeach Donald Trump.[12] This includes committing $7 million to get Democrats elected in Florida and California,[13] and at least $2 million in Virginia.[14] NextGen mostly is targeting the millennial generation. NextGen published a Mother's Day video warning mothers not to let their children become Republicans.

"This Mother's Day, talk to your child about the Republican Party."

[15][16]

References

  1. ↑ Confessore, Nicholas (17 February 2014). "Financier Plans Big Ad Campaign on Climate Change".
  2. 1 2 3 "Tom Steyer: An Inconvenient Billionaire". Men's Journal. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  3. ↑ "40 U.S. Billionaires Pledge Half Of Wealth To Charity". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  4. ↑ "Tom Steyer Biography - Founder, NextGen Climate". NextGen Climate. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  5. 1 2 Sheppard, Kate (2014-09-29). "Big Greens Are Spending Big Green In 2014 Midterms". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  6. ↑ "Did billionaire's spending sway the Mass. Senate primary?". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  7. ↑ "Tom Steyer Moves Beyond Climate". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  8. ↑ "Tom Steyer: Midterms mark the start of climate campaign". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  9. ↑ "Billionaire donor's climate group plans to punish GOP in 2016". MSNBC. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  10. ↑ The New York Times (2015-07-24). "Today in Politics: A Billionaire's Deep Pockets Come With a Big Catch". The New York Times - First Draft. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  11. ↑ "Tom Steyer launching $25 million effort to turn out young voters". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  12. ↑ Debenedetti, Gabriel (8 January 2018). "Steyer to target Ryan, GOP incumbents in $30M midterms push". Politico.
  13. ↑ Connolly, Griffin (8 March 2018). "Steyer Pumping $7 Million Into Florida, California for 2018 Democrats". Roll Call.
  14. ↑ Portnoy, Jenna (7 April 2018). "Fidget spinners, cookies and puppies: Billionaire has a plan to replicate Virginia's blue wave in midterms". Washington Post.
  15. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISpLDnGH64E
  16. ↑ Lubben, Alex (11 May 2018). "Liberal megadonor celebrates Mother's Day with warning not to let your kids become Nazis". Vice News.
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