Democratic Megadonor's Climate Super Pac Targets Millennials In Senate Races

NextGen Climate will air a new round of digital ads — first shared with BuzzFeed News — in Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire as part of an overall $25 million program aimed at reaching younger voters.

WASHINGTON — The super PAC affiliated with Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer is launching new ads Monday as part of a multi-million dollar effort targeting millennial voters in states with tight Senate races.

NextGen Climate will air a new round of digital ads — first shared with BuzzFeed News — in Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire as part of an overall $25 million program aimed at reaching younger voters. The ads, which will air on several different digital platforms, seek to tie the Republican candidates to Trump and draw a contrast between the two Senate candidates on certain issues in those states.

They will run through Oct. 21 in Nevada and through Nov. 1 in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. The group is spending more than $3 million on this latest round of ads.

The spot hitting New Hampshire GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte shows a clip of her saying she will vote for Trump before a narrator says: "Ayotte and Trump have both been supported by Big Oil billionaires and have both questioned the science of climate change — guess that's why Ayotte wants to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency. This year, let's elect someone who's on our side. Maggie Hassan will fight the polluters and supports creating thousands of good-paying, clean energy jobs."

The ads will air in the form of mobile and laptop video on YouTube pre-roll, Vevo, Yahoo and others. They will also pop up on Hulu, XBox, Sling TV, Spotify and Pandora, with display ads on website such as Elite Daily, Refinery29, Hearst, SB Nation, VICE. They will also appear on Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat and Instagram.

“Coming out of the conventions, many millennials didn't see the differences between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the issues that matter most to them," said Suzanne Henkels, spokeswoman for the group. "But as those voters learn the differences between the presidential candidates, they move towards Hillary Clinton."

"If they didn't see a difference between Clinton and Trump, then they certainly don't see the difference between the Senate candidates — for example Catherine Cortez Masto and Joe Heck. So we're aiming to do the same thing for the Senate races we're involved in."

In addition to the digital ads, NextGen has a field program on 200 college campuses in 8 states — New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado and Nevada.

Steyer has already contributed nearly $40 million to candidates and committees that disclose donations, according to federal records. About $38 million of that money has gone to NextGen.


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