Release new poll showing Peters leading the race by six percent

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) today announced that they’re joining forces in the Michigan Senate race to launch a $2.1 million mail and voter turnout operation to elect Rep. Gary Peters to the U.S. Senate on November 4th. The program will begin in October and will contact more than a million registered voters across the state by Election Day. 

“The oil billionaire Koch Brothers are behind a multimillion dollar campaign to buy their ally Terri Lynn Land a Senate seat. This campaign will ensure that voters learn the truth about Land’s extreme anti-environmental agenda,” said Daniel J. Weiss, LCV Senior Vice President for Campaigns. “We’re proud to join with AFSCME to inform Michigan voters that Rep. Gary Peters stands for public health protection and job creation.”   

“Terri Lynn Land has a record of standing with Corporate CEOs and billionaires like the Koch Bros rather than workers in Michigan. Michiganders need a Senator who will stand up for working families, and that certainly is not Terri Lynn Land,” remarked Seth Johnson, AFSCME Assistant Political Director. “Rep. Gary Peters’ has proven that his priority is helping to rebuild a strong middle class in Michigan. Through this partnership with LCV, we will ensure that voters across the state learn about Terri Lynn Land’s out-of-touch agenda and that Rep. Peters is the right choice to move Michigan forward.”

“Rep. Gary Peters’ leadership to protect the Great Lakes and the health of Michigan families stands in stark contrast to Terri Lynn Land’s agenda that would benefit her polluter allies,” said Lisa Wozniak, Executive Director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. “Voters deserve to know that Land’s extreme agenda would put Michigan’s water, air, land, and wildlife at risk.”

This effort will focus on turning out likely Peters supporters who voted in the 2012 Presidential election but did not vote in the 2010 midterm election. Beginning in October, the mail and turnout operation will reach more than 1.1 million voters by Election Day. It’s expected to yield more than 50,000 votes for Peters.

The groups also released a new poll of the race highlighting the importance of this turnout operation. The poll, conducted by Benenson Strategy Group, found Peters leading Republican nominee Terri Lynn Land by six percent, 43% to 37%. The poll of 900 likely voters was conducted from July 26th through July 29th and has a margin of error of ±3.2%.

LCV Action Fund, which works to elect candidates who will implement sound environmental policies, endorsed Peters in March, citing his work to protect our environment and make America a leader in clean energy innovation and job creation. His voting record has earned Peters a 93% on LCV’s 2013 National Environmental Scorecard and a lifetime score of 89%. The non-partisan Scorecard is a nationally accepted yardstick used to rate members of Congress on environmental and clean energy issues. For more information, visit https://scorecard.lcv.org.

AFSCME—a 1.6 million member public service union—works to elect pro-worker candidates that put the middle class, working families and union members first. AFSCME endorsed Peters in March, based on his record of supporting and voting for legislation that protects the middle class, helps working families and protects quality public services.  Peters notched a 97% cumulative record during his career in Congress on AFSCME’s most recent Congressional Scorecard. 

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Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters, www.lcv.org, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, www.AFSCME.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.