Friend — It matters who represents our communities.

My name is Craig, and I help lead LCV Action Fund's endorsement program to elect candidates who will advance strong environmental laws and policies and defeat those who stand in the way of climate action. Nearly every week, I meet with candidates who are running to represent their communities in Congress and hear how they want to build a better, safer environment for all of us.

Our LCV Action Fund endorsement team evaluates candidates' positions and their campaigns. We endorse candidates who we know will fight to protect our air, water, and health. And with every candidate LCV Action Fund endorses, we let LCV supporters know which leaders you can count on to advance the fight against climate change and protect our kids' health.

We also know that representation matters. Right now, Congress is 78% white, even though white people make up only 61% of the population. Elected officials who look like, understand, and come from all of the diverse communities and identities across our country better represent all of us in Congress. When our representatives advocate for the people — rather than for corporate polluters and special interests — our environment, our democracy, and our communities win.

That's why LCV Action Fund intentionally endorses candidates who will make Congress more representative of the diverse communities and identities across our country. Racial justice and equity are integral components of our work to elect and support pro-environment candidates at the federal, state, and local level and further a more equitable democracy.

While we still have a long way to go to achieve parity in both our own work and our political system, we were proud and excited to have supported so many candidates who today help make up the most diverse Congress in our history. These leaders are not only more representative of our country's racial, religious, and gender diversity; they're also innovative leaders who have championed legislation to protect our public lands, safeguard our water, and transition our economy to 100% clean energy.

What's more: According to LCV's annual report on the voting records from members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) — also known as the Tri-Caucus — members of color consistently vote pro-environment more often than Congress overall. Leaders of color are environmental leaders, and that's one of the reasons why we're working hard to ensure that they have the resources and support to win.

In 2018, we helped support candidates like Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids, the first Native American Congresswomen. We helped Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia to become the first Latinas to represent Texas in Congress. And many of our other endorsed candidates broke barriers and made history last year too.

While we're making progress to elect more diverse leaders, women, LGBTQ-identifying people, Native Americans, and people of color are still greatly underrepresented in elected office. As long as that is true, LCV Action Fund will continue to strive to build a stronger, more representative democracy at all levels of government. Learn more about LCV Action Fund-endorsed 2020 candidates here »

Thank you for all that you do.

Craig Auster
Senior Director, Political Affairs
League of Conservation Voters Action Fund

Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, www.lcvactionfund.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.