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U.S. Climate Politics Almanac: 2024 Climate Hawks for Congress
Hot races in a hot world
Brad Johnson
October 13, 2024
Election Day is less than a month away. The West is blazing under extreme, fossil-fueled heat. The death toll from the fossil-fueled Hurricane Helene is over 232 people, with many still missing in Buncombe County, North Carolina. The death toll from the fossil-fueled Hurricane Milton is at least 17—several from Milton’s destructive tornado outbreak—and over 3 million households lost power. The Organizing Resilience Helene and Milton Response Fund is distributing contributions to organizing and mutual aid groups in the region for immediate and long-term efforts.
In this post, the U.S. Climate Politics Almanac takes a look at key climate candidates for the U.S. House and Senate, running against climate deniersin a world of fire
These are the candidates endorsed by at least one of the Sunrise Movement, Food & Water Action (FWA), the California-based Climate Hawks Vote (CHV), and the Jane Fonda Climate PAC (Jane PAC). We also note opponents of the League of Conservation Voters Dirty Dozen, and signatories of the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge (NFFM).
We’re also highlighting which candidates have been supported by right-wing, anti-climate, Republican-financed PACs, namely the AIPAC-aligned Democratic Majority For Israel (DMFI) and the crypto-industry PACs Protect Progress (PP) and Fairshake (FS).
Seat ratings are from the Cook Political Report.
U.S. Senate
Aligning with Democratic Party priorities, the LCV Dirty Dozen includes six GOP Senate challengers to Democratic seats: Kari Lake in Arizona, Tim Sheehy in Montana, Sam Brown in Nevada, Bernie Moreno in Ohio, Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, and Eric Hovde in Wisconsin.
Arizona
U.S. Congressman Ruben Gallego in Phoenix, Arizona. 2016. Credit: Gage Skidmore
Rep. Ruben Gallego is campaigning in the state’s record-shattering, deadly heat against Gov. Kari Lake, a member of the LCV Dirty Dozen, to fill Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-Ariz.) seat. Gallego was one of the first sitting members of Congress to sign the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge. “We have to first accept that climate change is happening. We prepare for that by actually having a very resilient grid,” Gallego said at a recent debate with Lake. “We need to bring in more baseload energy. That’s going to have to be nuclear.”
“We need to bring back and start building the Keystone XL pipeline and continue, as President Trump says, to ‘drill, baby, drill,’” Lake countered.
Endorsements: CHV, FWA. As the frontrunner, he is also getting heavy backing from DMFI and PP ($10 million). Seat rating: Lean Dem.
Florida
The Florida election has been upended by the double blow of Helene and Milton one month before Election Day. Although Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has not garnered any endorsements from the climate-focused groups above, she is running a tight race against the incumbent Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), an aggressive climate denier.
Seat: Likely GOP.
Nebraska
Dan Osborn
Dan Osborn vs. GOP incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer. Osborn is independent who “wants to help Nebraskan family farmers exploited by monopolistic meatpackers. Dan also wants to hold rail corporations accountable for the dangerous practices that led to the toxic derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.”
Endorsements: FWA. Seat: Rated Likely GOP, but polling is neck and neck.
New Jersey
Rep. Andy Kim, running to replace the scandal-ridden Sen. Bob Menendez, describes climate change as a “national security crisis.”
U.S. House of Representatives
Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez thanking Sunrise protesters in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, November 2018.
The Squad:
All the members of the Squad are backed by Sunrise and are signatories of the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge. Current Squad members Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) were defeated by DMFI-backed candidates in their primaries.
Arizona
Arizona is increasingly unliveably hot and parched, thanks to fossil-fueled warming.
Yassamin Ansari for Arizona 3rd. “My number one priority is always going to be climate policy,” Ansari, a former climate policy staffer, has told the press. She has signed the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge. That said, Ansari was heavily backed in a brutal primary by DMFI and PP ($1.4 million), and has signed a letter that pledges fealty to crypto industry interests.
Endorsements: CHV. Seat: Safe Dem.
Former National Park Service ranger Kirsten Engel
Kirsten Engel for Arizona 6th vs Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a member of the LCV Dirty Dozen. Engel is an environmental law professor focused on climate action and former state legislator who wrote an amicus brief on behalf of climate scientists in support of Massachusetts vs. EPA.
California
All of the California candidates listed below are backed by Climate Hawks Vote, whose head is California Democratic climate activist RL Miller. Incumbents who have received endorsements for their climate record include Nanette Barragán (Calif.-44), Jared Huffman (Calif.-2), and Ro Khanna (Calif.-17).
Lateefah Simon
Lateefah Simon for California 12th against business-aligned Democrat Jennifer Tran. Simon is a Bay Area Rapid Transit director and is the frontrunner to succeed Rep. Barbara Lee, who has endorsed her.
Luz Rivas for California 29th. Rivas is a former electrical engineer with “unmatched understanding of the dangers of scam policies like carbon capture and sequestration.” As chair of the state Assembly Natural Resources Committee, she “has taken the lead on legislation aimed at reducing the deadly effects of extreme heat.” Rivas has stated climate policy is a top concern. “I think Californians realize that climate change is an urgent issue, and they want their state to respond.” She had the primary backing of DMFI.
Laura Friedman for California 30th, running to succeed Rep. Adam Schiff, who won the Senate primary. Friedman has a “proven track-record as an assembly-member to Congress as she leads on bold environmental initiatives, from banning toxins to preserving public lands.” She had DMFI primary backing.
David Min for California 47th to succeed Rep. Katie Porter in a swing district vs. Scott Baugh. Min “has been a climate champion as a California state senator, fighting to end offshore drilling and to get housing and transportation systems off fossil fuels.” Baugh blames “plants and animals” for climate change.
Iowa
Christina Bohannon visiting a regenerative farm
Christina Bohannon for Iowa 1st vs. incumbent Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, who is spreading xenophobic rumors about FEMA’s hurricane response.
New Jersey
Sue Altman for New Jersey 7th vs. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. Altman is the former executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance.
Endorsements: FWA. NFFM signer. Seat: Lean Republican.
New Mexico
Rep. Gabe Vasquez for New Mexico 2nd vs. former Rep. Yvette Herrell, a backer of the state’s fracking industry. Rep. Vasquez “fights for a just transition to clean energy that will create good-paying jobs and is committed to protecting public lands from fossil fuel exploitation. He advocates for electrifying homes, cars, and businesses and calls for New Mexico, home to renowned research organizations, to lead the effort in new energy technologies and drought adaptation.”
New York
Hempstead town supervisor Laura Gillen speaking next to then-councilman Anthony D’Esposito in 2018
Laura Gillen for New York 4th vs. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a member of the LCV Dirty Dozen who opposed New York climate policy and attacked FEMA for not properly forecasting Helene’s devastation. “As Hempstead Town Supervisor, Laura Gillen sued corporations who were contaminating Long Island’s public drinking water. She has already committed to supporting the WATER Act and PFAS Action Act, which would protect the water systems for communities around the country.” She received primary backing from DMFI.
Josh Riley for New York 19th vs. Rep. Marc Molinaro, a typical opponent of climate action. Riley’s “top priority is fighting for a sustainable agriculture system. Josh’s solutions include breaking up Big Ag monopolies, and creating federal agriculture policy that rewards farmers who protect the environment by farming sustainably.”
Pennsylvania
Rep. Chris DeLuzio for Pennsylvania 17th vs. Rob Mercuri, a standard GOP climate denier. DeLuzio is a “voting rights attorney and labor activist in the wake of the East Palestine disaster introduced his Railway Safety Act to protect his constituents from corporations like Norfolk Southern.” Endorsements: FWA. Seat: Lean Dem.
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