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Lead Locally has spent the last year working with organizers across the country to recruit, train, and support climate leaders running for office at the local, county, and state level in some of the most critical down ballot climate races in the country. It bears repeating: this November will of course decide the White House, but also critical statehouses, utility regulators, and city councils that will decide the future of climate policy. 

To meet the moment, we have endorsed over 200 candidates, raised over a quarter million dollars, helped contact over half a million voters, and hired teams of organizers in 4 of these priority states. We wanted to highlight several of these key races we’re watching this election that will have profound impact on climate policy down ballot for years to come.

1- The State Legislatures We Could Flip Blue & Create Climate Majorities

In many of the same states that will decide the White House, there are opportunities to fully flip both state legislative chambers to Democratic control that would prioritize climate action. Both Arizona and Pennsylvania also have Democratic Governors, so flipping the state legislative chambers would create Democratic trifectas, similar to Minnesota, which won a 1-seat House majority last cycle and thus was able to pass historic climate and more broadly progressive legislation. We’re working with state partners to win critical swing seats across both states.

Arizona: This year’s election in Arizona will decide the Presidential race, the balance of power in the Senate, and Democrats have an opportunity to flip both chambers of the legislature and create a Democratic trifecta that can stand up to big utilities and pass significant climate and energy reform. Arizona is facing a heat crisis and severe water drought, yet its utilities kill meaningful climate or environmental action and continue to invest in dirty gas plants. In fact, earlier this year, Senate Republicans passed a bill banning the use of public funds for climate action or research and allowing individual citizens to sue municipalities for doing so. If Democrats get into power they will have a chance to hold the state’s utilities accountable and pass meaningful clean energy policy. 

Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania is a major fossil fuel extraction state that could shift direction if Democrats make gains in the legislature. Democrats need to hold onto and build their majority in the State House, and make progress by gaining control in the State Senate. Democrats in the legislature have passed model legislation like the 2022 Whole Home Repairs Bill which assists residents in weatherizing, repairing, and decarbonizing their homes – but have not passed meaningful clean energy legislation since 2008’s Climate Change Act which establishes a tracking system for the state’s contributions to climate change and empowers the Governor to establish a Climate Action Plan. Should Democrats win a trifecta, party leaders in both chambers are ready to pass a suite of legislation that would expand state efforts to transition to clean energy, and ensure needed funding for the Whole Home Repairs Program.

The following are the seats we’re focused on in both states:

	House	Senate
Arizona	Stephanie Simacek House District 2 Lorena Austin House District 9 Seth Blattman House District 9 Brandy Reese House District 13 Karen Gresham House District 4 Keith Seaman House District 16 Matias Rosales House District 23	Judy Schwiebert Senate District 2 Stacey Seaman Senate District 16 Christine Marsh Senate District 4 Eva Burch Senate District 9
Pennsylvania	Anna Thomas House District 137 Megan Kocher House District 119 Cristian Luna House District 13 Brad Chambers House District 41 Fern Leard House District 120 Eleanor Breslin House District 143 Sara Agerton House District 88 Anand Patel House District 18	Nicole Ruscitto for Senate District 37 Jim Wertz for Senate District 49

2 – Winning Arizona’s Utility Regulator

The largest, most influential, and most competitive state regulatory body that is up for election in 2024 is  the Arizona Corporation Commission. The 5-member body is elected at-large, and this year Arizonans will vote for 3-seats. The Republican majority has overseen egregious rate increases, approved new fossil gas plants, and stymied the transition to clean energy. With the one incumbent Democrat deciding not to run again, we’re backing all 3 Democratic challengers: Ylenia Aguilar, Joshua Polachek and Jonathan Hill.

3 – Electing a Clean Slate in Corpus Christi (TX), the Largest US Fossil Fuel Export Port

The Port of Corpus Christi (TX) has become the largest fossil fuel export port in the United States, exporting both crude oil and LNG. A slate of local environmental leaders are running for Corpus Christi City Council to protect the city’s water supply and stop handouts to industry. In 2022, we helped a local coalition elect two environmental leaders, Sylvia Campos and Jim Klein, on city council, and this cycle, a slate of seven candidates are running to create a governing majority.

4 – Forming a Brand New Portland (OR) City Council with Climate Leaders

Portland voters passed a charter initiative that completely overhauled Portland city government, creating a new voting system and new city council districts. No incumbents are running for re-election, so Portland voters will elect an entirely new city council. At stake is whether Portland will maintain the integrity of the groundbreaking Portland Clean Energy Fund, which raises and allocates millions of dollars for clean energy projects, and whether the city council will take action against fossil fuel projects like the Zenith oil-by-rail terminal. Voters choose a total of 12 new councilors – 3 per 4 multimember districts – through ranked choice voting. We are backing:

• Candace Avalos, the executive director of environmental justice group Verde
• Mitch Green, an energy economist for Bonneville Power Administration 
• Marnie Glickman, a local community advocate
• Angelita Morillo, a policy advisor for the City Council and known TikTok influencer on local politics
• Tiffany Koyama Lane, a local teacher and union organizer

While the above are our top priorities for the Nov 2024 cycle, we have endorsed and supported many more candidates. You can find all those candidates here as well as a write up on them here. 

Some of our other priorities this year include: 

• Protecting and strengthening Democratic climate trifectas in states we’ve recently won in: After winning Dem trifectas the last few cycles, we’ve helped efforts to pass state climate legislation in Michigan, Minnesota, and New Mexico. We’re working to expand Dem majorities in both chambers to protect those wins from defunding or rollback.
• Expanding climate power in progressive stronghold states: We are backing progressive leaders in competitive state legislative runoffs between 2 Democrats in California and Washington who will help each state continue to lead on bold climate policy. We are also working to elect a Dem supermajority in Oregon, which would end the ability of state Republicans to continue blocking climate policy by leaving the state during session.
• Building inroads for eventual climate power in purple states: While these states’ gerrymandered maps may not allow for Democratic trifectas now, we are supporting leaders in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas to build the base for future climate legislation. 
• Backing Green New Deal leaders for City Council: While the emphasis may be on the states this year, we are supporting bold progressives in cities like Phoenix, San Francisco, Portland (ME), and Austin who can lead on bold municipal environmental justice and climate policy.