Ralph Northam Endorsed By Anti-Coal Environmental Group

Climate change activist Tom Steyer is pumping $2 million into the race to help elect Northam.

The Hill newspaper reports: 

The group run by environmental activist Tom Steyer on Tuesday announced that it will put $2 million into the Virginia governor’s race in an effort to help elect Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D), the Democratic nominee.

The campaign from NextGen America is part of an effort to organize young voters to elect Northam and help other Democrats to victory in the state legislature.

“Young people are overwhelmingly progressive, and they can make the difference this year in Virginia,” Steyer said in a statement. 

Steyer, a former hedge fund manager who is an outspoken environmentalist, poured over $66 million into the 2016 elections, according to a tracker by The Washington Post.

Washington Post: Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer to spend $2 million in Virginia governor's race

The former California hedge-fund manager turned climate activist told The Washington Post that Virginia, which is holding the nation's marquee gubernatorial contest this year, is the most important campaign priority for his group, NextGen America. 

...

His group’s support for Northam comes despite the fact that the Democrat has been largely neutral about two proposed natural gas pipelines that would snake through Virginia.


Many environmentalists in the state, along with some landowners, are opposed to the pipelines and say they are angry with Northam, who has maintained that the projects’ fate is up to federal regulators and the state has little say. His Republican rival, Ed Gillespie, supports the pipelines.

Previously: 

Sponsored by the Republican Governors Association