TRENTON – The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund today announced that it is investing $40,000 between now and Election Day to help Kip Bateman, one of the Senate’s biggest environmental champions, across the finish line in the 2017 16th District Senate election.
The money is being spent on a targeted mail campaign urging swing voters to support the Republican incumbent who has voted to protect drinking water supplies, permanently ban fracking in the Delaware River Basin, and preserve open space.
The mail piece can be seen here.
Bateman has been in the Legislature for 23 years, the past nine years as Senator. The 16th Legislative District encompasses 14 towns in four counties: Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset.
“We need to support leaders with a proven record of punishing polluters and protecting our environment,” said Drew Tompkins of the Victory Fund. “We want to send the strongest message possible that re-electing Sen. Bateman is the best thing 16th District voters can do to protect our air, water, and land from the onslaught of federal rollbacks unlike anything in recent memory.”
Bateman is the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, and the highest scoring Senate Republican (89 percent) on the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters’ Legislative Scorecard, which tracks the environmental voting records of all 120 legislators and assigns them a score.
“Sen. Bateman has consistently stood up to protect the health and safety of New Jersey families, even when he was the only Republican to do so,” Tompkins added. “He is the definition of an environmental champion, and we are proud to support him.”
The Conservation Voters Super PAC started in 2013 to support candidates and officeholders whose priorities include air, water, and land protections. It will make the largest expenditure of any statewide environmental issue group, with $375,000 spent in the primary and general election.