Press Releases

LCV Action Fund Endorses Lulu Seikaly, Mike Siegel, and Julie Oliver for Congress

Oct 23, 2020

Courtnee Connon, 727-744-4163, courtnee_connon@lcv.org

Washington D.C. – The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund, which works to elect pro-environment candidates, announced its endorsement of three candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas: Lulu Seikaly (TX-03), Mike Siegel (TX-10), and Julie Oliver (TX-25).

“Texans are already facing the dangerous impacts of the climate crisis and they deserve representatives who will fight for them by investing in the state’s clean energy economy, both protecting the health and safety of communities and providing good-paying jobs,” said LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “We are proud to endorse Julie Oliver, Lulu Seikaly, and Mike Siegel for Congress because we know they will prioritize the needs of their constituents over polluters.”

“I am honored to have the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund,” said Lulu Seikaly. “Texas has always led the nation in energy innovation and in Congress I look forward to working with LCV on policies that protect our environment and promote clean energy.”  

“I’m running for Congress to meet the needs of a Houston region that suffered five ‘500 year floods’ in five years, a rural area with poisoned air and water due to coal and fracking operations, and an incumbent who does nothing to confront these crises,” said Mike Siegel. “We need bold leadership to address climate change, create jobs in a renewable economy, and remedy the legacy of environmental injustice. I’m honored to be in this fight with the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund.”

“I’m honored to have the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund as we work together toward systemic solutions to the climate crisis,” said Julie Oliver. “Our fight for a clean energy future and good-paying jobs to support it must be rooted in environmental justice—their movement leaves no one behind, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Julie Oliver was born in South Oak Cliff, Texas, and grew up in Ovilla. She dropped out of high school, was homeless and had her first child at age 17, before returning to graduate high school. She then graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and earned her law degree at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. She has spent 20 years working in healthcare finance and taxation for a large hospital system and was appointed by the Austin City Council to the board of Central Health, which delivers healthcare to low-income Texans. In 2018, she challenged Republican Representative Roger Williams and is running again in 2020. Oliver supports the Green New Deal and legislation that will transition the United States to carbon-free, 100 percent renewable energy by 2035 and create millions of good-paying new jobs through low-carbon emission generation technologies, solar and wind technologies, energy efficient goods manufacturing and installation, building construction and retrofits, environmental remediation, forestry, and agriculture. Her opponent, Representative Williams, in contrast, has an appalling 1 percent lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard.

Mike Siegel was born in Oakland, California. He graduated from Brandeis University and Cornell Law School. He is a civil rights lawyer and former public school teacher from Austin, Texas. Siegal joined the AmeriCorps program in 1999 and taught 3rd grade for five years. He then founded two non-profit organizations focused on providing free after-school and summer programs to children. Throughout his legal career, Siegel has represented immigrant families, firefighters, low-income renters, and women who have suffered discrimination in the workplace. The Green New Deal and climate action have been at the center of Siegel’s campaign including his first digital ad, which focused on the negative impacts of a local coal plant on a pecan farmer. In contrast, Representative McCaul has a 6 percent lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard and votes with Trump over 95 percent of the time. Additionally, McCaul cosponsored a bill that opens up new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Lulu Seikaly is a first generation American whose parents, a pediatric specialist and a registered nurse, fled the civil war in Lebanon. She grew up in North Texas and graduated from Southern Methodist University. She then earned a law degree from South Texas College of Law. As an attorney, she is focused on employment law, and is dedicated to serving her community by addressing discrimination and harassment matters and holding violent police officers accountable. She is committed to transitioning to a clean energy economy by 2050 and is deeply concerned about the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. She is committed to building our wind and solar energy economy. Her opponent, Representative Van Taylor, votes with Trump 95 percent of the time. He has an appalling 7 percent score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard and has prioritized party loyalty over the health and well-being of his constituents.

 

About LCV Action Fund

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund, the connected federal political action committee (PAC) of the League of Conservation Voters, works to elect leaders who stand up for a clean, healthy environment and to defeat anti-environment candidates who oppose climate action. Since the 1990 election cycle, LCVAF has helped elect and re-elect 90 U.S. Senators and 450 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Over the last several years, our efforts have also helped elevate climate change and clean energy as critical issues in key elections.

 

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Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and authorized by Julie Oliver for Congress, Lulu for Texas, and Mike Siegel for Congress