Washington, D.C. — LCV Victory Fund announced today that it will take the unprecedented and one-time step of expanding the signature Dirty Dozen program to include a 2018 House Dirty Dozen list of 12 of the country’s worst anti-environmental House candidates running for office, in addition to a separate dozen Senate candidates. The expansion comes in response to one of the most anti-environmental Congresses in our nearly 50-year history, which we have responded to with our biggest investment in House races by far.

To kick off this special 2018 House Dirty Dozen, LCV Victory Fund named Reps. Mike Coffman (C0-06), Jason Lewis (MN-02) and Tom MacArthur (NJ-03) as the inaugural members.

“There have been a few times when we’ve had a ‘baker’s dozen,’ but never before have we taken the step of calling out so many candidates for an overwhelming and destructive pattern of siding with corporate polluters over the public’s health and safety,” said Pete Maysmith, LCV Victory Fund Senior Vice President for Campaigns. “House Republicans held an average of 5 percent on the latest version of LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard and Senate Republicans had an all-time low average of 1 percent. This is our most ambitious election cycle ever, and one list of twelve federal candidates just would not adequately tell the story of all the anti-environmental candidates we need to defeat.”

More information on the inaugural members of the 2018 House Dirty Dozen:

Rep. Mike Coffman (CO-06): 2018 House Dirty Dozen  

Coffman has repeatedly voted to dismantle protections for clean air and water. He has a lifetime environmental voting record of just 5 percent on LCV’s scorecard, and has voted with Trump 96 percent of the time — making him the most Trump-supporting member of Congress in the Colorado delegation. Despite joining the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus last year, Coffman has continued to vote against climate solutions — most recently, he supported an extreme fossil fuel-backed climate denial resolution. Coffman voted to block the Clean Power Plan and has been silent on the pro-coal energy plan that Trump’s own EPA admits could result in 1,400 more premature deaths each year due to dirtier air. LCV Victory Fund has already run a TV ad exposing Coffman’s toxic record.

Rep. Jason Lewis (MN-02): 2018 House Dirty Dozen  

Lewis has the lowest LCV lifetime score of these first three House Dirty Dozen candidates, a unequivocal zero, having voted against clean air, clean water, and protecting public lands every time those issues have been brought before the House. Lewis has also been a vocal climate change denier. In a 2018 town hall in his district, Lewis responded to a question about global warming with, “the earth’s temperature changes. Has it warmed? You bet. I’m just not convinced it’s due to carbon emissions.” On top of his climate conspiracies, Lewis has made derogatory comments about women and the LGBTQ community.

Rep. Tom MacArthur (NJ-03): 2018 House Dirty Dozen  

MacArthur holds an LCV lifetime score of 14 percent, and he’s voted to eliminate water safeguards and undermine clean air standards, despite New Jersey suffering from elevated cancer rates connected to pollution. Additionally, MacArthur introduced an amendment to the American Health Care Act that would have stripped protections for pre-existing conditions, which would have exacerbated the impact of increased asthma and heart and lung disease from his bad votes on clean air. MacArthur joined the Climate Solutions Caucus in May yet continues to vote anti-climate — in addition to supporting the recent climate denial resolution, he also just voted for measures to prohibit the EPA from putting limits on methane pollution and to require the government to ignore the costs of climate change.

Senate candidates Corey Stewart in Virginia, Lou Barletta in Pennsylvania and Florida Governor Rick Scott have previously been name to what will now be the separate 2018 Senate Dirty Dozen.

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Paid for by LCV Victory Fund, www.lcvvictoryfund.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.