Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!
0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8d390000Race: U.S SenateParty: RepublicanPolitical Experience: 2010-2012 - U.S Senate from Massachusetts2004-2010 – Massachusetts State Senate1998-2004 – Massachusetts House of RepresentativesPersonal: Married; lives in RyeEducation: Bachelor’s, Tufts University; J.D., Boston College Law SchoolCampaign WebsiteIssuesBrown says one of the main reasons he is seeking the seat held by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is the need to repeal the Affordable Care Act and encourage states to craft their own legislative solutions.A supporter of “Romneycare,” the Massachusetts health care program that includes many of the same components of the ACA, Brown voted to repeal so-called Obamacare in 2010. Yet he acknowledges that benefits offered by the ACA, such as requiring coverage for pre-existing conditions, are important enough to be part of a New Hampshire plan.“We need to repeal Obamacare and we need to put in place something that works for us…. There’s no reason why we can’t do it and also respecting our rights and freedoms and also doing it more competitively.”In late July, Brown began running television ads blaming Shaheen and President Obama for the “immigration crisis on our hands.” He criticized Shaheen for supporting immigration reforms that include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already living in the U.S., which Brown characterizes as “amnesty.”Brown told NHPR’s Brady Carlson that the U.S. needs to “secure our border once and for all.” But he supports allowing foreign students with visas to obtain green cards instead of automatically returning to their country of origin, and he says some workers ought to be allowed to remain in the U.S. if there is a need.“I look at it in different pillars. The first pillar is if we have kids who are here from out of country and they’re going to school, they should get a diploma and the ability to stay here and live and work if they want. That’s a no brainer.If we have people who need seasonal help because we have a service industry in our state, tourism, etc., and there’s needs to be filled, we should allow that to happen…. If you’re looking at executives and other engineers, doctors, etc., and there’s a need and we can’t fill that need in order to keep our businesses vibrant and in our state, we should allow that to happen, no problem.”Brown supports an "all of the above" energy plan that includes federal tax subsidies to encourage the development of solar, geothermal and nuclear energy technologies. A one-time supporter of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program for New England states, Brown now opposes cap and trade or a "national energy tax," saying it would increase costs to consumers.

Environmental Groups Pour Money Into N.H., But Can Climate Change Sway Voters?

Sam Evans-Brown
/
NHPR

  Environmental issues have never ranked high on the list of issues that drive most voters to the polls. But this year, Tom Steyer – a former hedge fund manager and billionaire – has pledged to spend $50 million dollars in a few key races around the country, hoping to make climate change a central issue. This spending begs a question: can talking about global warming actually win elections?

Steyer’s operation in New Hampshire, NextGen Climate, has 24 full-time staff, and 5 field offices with two more slated to open in the coming weeks.

“We’ve had a pretty large presence, I think a lot of people have seen the orange shirts at this point,” says Pete Kavanaugh, who managed President Obama’s New Hampshire campaign in 2012, and is heading up NextGen in the Granite State. “At community events, at farmer’s markets, just about any place you can go, and then a significant presence on the doors.”

Kavanaugh claims there are roughly 100 volunteers pounding pavement every day.

According to Federal Elections Commission data, NextGen Climate has poured $3.1 million dollars into opposing Scott Brown’s run for Senate.

That makes it the biggest outside spender in New Hampshire politics. And it’s not the only environmental group dropping money into this race. The League of Conservation voters announced Friday it would spend another $400 thousand on attack ads against Brown.

Spending by Environmental Groups In NH Senate Race | Create Infographics
“Never Been the Number 1 Issue”

Spending on this scale to talk about the environment is unusual to say the least, because for most voters it’s not a priority.

“I think that climate has been a second-tier issue,” says Karen Hicks, a Democratic strategist and a veteran of Hilary Clinton’s and Howard Dean’s campaigns, “I think that candidates of both parties are always looking for the message that is motivational and important to the broadest population. So, they’re really focused on getting 50-percent-plus-one votes on Election Day.”

To put it another way, pollster Andy Smith of the UNH survey center in terms of votes, climate change probably won’t have a real impact.

“We’ve seen in New Hampshire it’s really never been the number one issue for voters.”

He says most vote based principally on party identification, and the truly independent voters will likely sit out this midterm election. The last time Smith asked about voter’s concerns, only 2% said it was a topic of family discussion, ranking 12th out of 16.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that most of the messaging from environmental groups is about “big oil” and the billionaire Koch brothers instead of climate change.

“When you bring the Koch brothers into the discussion and folks see that Scott Brown stands up for them, it really crystalizes the fact, whose side he’s on,” says Jeff Gohringer with the League of Conservation voters.

Tax breaks for the super-wealthy are just more concrete something than 2 feet of sea-level rise, sometime between 50 and 80 years from now.

Just Getting Them Talking

At least one researcher thinks the idea that climate can’t be a winner in the voting booth is overblown, and it comes down to how you ask the question of what issues matter.

If you ask voters “What’s the biggest problem facing America today?” Climate change doesn’t fare well.

“Nobody says global warming, it literally is down there at zero,” says Jon Krosnick, a political scientist at Stanford, who studies issue voters. But when you ask what will be the biggest problem facing the world in the future? “Climate change actually comes in number one to the answer to that question,” Krosnick says.

Moreover, according to Krosnick, most politicians stand to gain a lot more by vowing action on global warming. “The thing that’s odd and unusual and really and unprecedented about global warming. It’s the only issue we’ve seen in 30 years of research on this, where it’s very strongly tipped on one side,” he explains.

Of the voters who say climate is very important to them, 80 percent believe it’s a problem. Krosnick says with most other issues, by taking a side politicians alienate just as many voters as they attract.

Polling indicates most of the state’s major races are tight, and outcomes could hinge less on issues and more on turnout.

Whether or not climate change motivates more voters to turnout remains to be seen.

Right now climate organizers say they’re just happy global warming has become an issue in the Shaheen-Brown race, one of the contests that will help decide the makeup of the senate.

Pete Kavanaugh says climate change has become a “wedge issue” and when pressed on what makes him say that, he replies, “I think just the fact that they’re talking about it.”

Given the $3 million Kavanaugh’s boss Tom Steyer has thrown into this race, that talk hasn’t come cheap.

Sam Evans-Brown has been working for New Hampshire Public Radio since 2010, when he began as a freelancer. He shifted gears in 2016 and began producing Outside/In, a podcast and radio show about “the natural world and how we use it.” His work has won him several awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, one national Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best environmental reporting in any medium. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and before reporting was variously employed as a Spanish teacher, farmer, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter.
Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.