The League of Conservation voters is spending heavily in a number of key Senate races. The group has spent nearly $8 million in an attempt to influence races in Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, and Virginia,
The Washington Post reported.
The group’s spending has increased in recent election cycles. They spent some $3.5 million in 2008, $5.5 million in 2010, and will spend at least $8 million in 2012.
“From the beginning, our thought was if we came in smart and focused in terms of our resources, we could have a really big impact,” Navin Nayak, the group’s senior vice president for campaigns, told the Post.
While their spending pales in comparison to the millions dropped this election cycle by super PACs, their influence has been felt.
In New Mexico, Democrat Martin Heinrich is leading in the fight for an open Senate seat and the group is targeting Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., for his efforts to end a ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, according to the Post.
Flake is running for Senate against former Surgeon General Richard Carmona. His campaign spokesman Andrew Wilder was critical of the League.
“But it’s no surprise that liberal, out-of-state allies of Richard Carmona would seek to distort his record,” Wilder wrote to the Post.
“The League of Conservation Voters supports cap-and-trade, opposes building the Keystone Pipeline, and is to the left of even President Obama on many issues, and so Arizonans are right to ask why they clearly see a future ally for that agenda in Richard Carmona,” he added.
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