2018

Sierra Club
Election Results
2018 Sierra Club
Election Results
Sierra Club Leaders and Members,
This year’s midterm election had one of the highest voter turnouts in decades. More than four million Michiganders cast their ballot,
the most for a gubernatorial election since 1962.

The contrast between this year's election and 2016's couldn't be more stark. I don't need to remind anyone of the disappointing
results from 2016. While some may have given up, it was uplifting to see the passion and drive of people leading up to this year.
Sierra Club interns, leaders, members, and supporters have rolled up their sleeves and continued to fight for environmental causes,
supporting and working with candidates who will prioritize clean air, clean water, and protection of our natural resources.

I'm happy to report that everyone's efforts paid off. This year's midterms gave me hope for this year and beyond. Unlike previous
election cycles, it is clear that environmental issues were a top concern for Michigan voters. I was proud to see countless candidates
prioritizing clean drinking water, climate change, and protecting the Great Lakes in their campaigns, and I think this will be a
consistent theme for Michigan political candidates going forward.

Statewide we passed two major democracy reforms—voting rights and redistricting—and elected in Jocelyn Benson the strongest
pro-democracy Secretary of State in Michigan history. This will not be a silver bullet, but it will empower environmental voters to
better hold their elected officials accountable, help prevent future environmental injustices, and help shield conservation issues
from hyper-partisan politics.

We elected an Attorney General in Dana Nessel who has vowed to protect the Great Lakes from oil pipelines and hold polluters
accountable. Dana Nessel will restore integrity and the values of environmental justice to the office of the Attorney General,
something we've been missing for the last decade. And, of course, Gretchen Whitmer is coming as our next governor with an
impressive environmental and public health agenda. There couldn't be a starker difference between Gretchen Whitmer's environ-
mental platform and outgoing Governor Rick Snyder's environmental legacy which is riddled with disasters like the Flint water
crisis, PFAS water contamination, Enbridge Line 5, and Nestle's water withdrawal

We helped Elissa Slotkin kick pollution promoter Mike Bishop out of office and we sent Haley Stevens to Congress instead of oil
executive Lena Epstein. At the state level, we did not elect conservation majorities in the House or Senate but we did make gains
and elected many strong environmental leaders such as environmental justice leader Stephanie Chang in Michigan's most polluted
zip code, water and infrastructure expert Rachel Hood in Grand Rapids, and clean energy champion Sean McCann in Kalamazoo.

The fight is far from over. We still have a Climate-Change denier in the White House and a majority in the federal Senate that largely
sides with corporate polluters and industry over the health and safety of our communities and environment. We will take the
momentum seen in this year's midterms and continue it to 2020 and beyond.

In Solidarity,

Mike Berkowitz
Legislative and Political Director
Sierra Club Michigan Chapter
 Election Results
The Sierra Club made 127 endorsements this election cycle and helped make sure a strong majority of them
won their races. These victories represent a positive change for Michigan and its citizens and a stark call for
moving toward stronger environmental protection and away from the Trump administration’s rollbacks and
disregard for

Federal State
Sen Debbie Stabenow All three of our endorsed statewide candidates won
was re-elected, garnering their respective races this election cycle, a sign of hope
52.2% of the vote. for people who care about protecting the environment,
safeguarding Democracy, and ensuring equal rights for

7/11
endorsed congressional
all.
Governor: Gretchen Whitmer
candidates were Whitmer made the environment
and protecting water a key issue on
victorious, including the campaign trail. Her opponent
Bill Schuette would have been the
candidates running in two
43.8% 53.3% worst case scenario for Michigan’s
of the most competitive environment. Whitmer handily
defeated him and we look forward
races in the country. to working with her to protect our
water and natural resources.
Elissa Slotkin
8th District Attorney General: Dana Nessel
Dana Nessel narrowly beat
Republican candidate and current
House speaker Tom Leonard (R), a
major victory for progressives and
environmental activists. She has
46.3% 49.0% vowed to use her power as AG to
shut down Line 5 and fight the
environmental injustices
happening around our state.

Haley Stevens
11th District SOS: Jocelyn Benson
Jocelyn Benson came out victori-
ous in the race for SOS, beating
Republican candidate Mary Treder
Lang, a staunch supporter of voter
44.0% 52.8% suppression efforts. Jocelyn
supports automatic voter registra-
tion and other democracy
improving initiatives our State
desparately needs!
 Election Results
State Senate
Of our endorsed State Senate candidates, 14/26
were victorious,
including five candidates who flipped their seats!
District 7 District 12 District 13 District 20 District 29

Dayne Polehanki, Rosemary Bayer, Mallory McMorrow, Sean McCann, Winnie Brinks,
a public school teacher, a business owner and IT who previously worked a former State Rep., a current State Rep.,
won her race against specialist, was victorious for Hot Wheels as a defeated Incumbent won a competitive race
Republican Rep. Laura over Republican Rep. senior designer, beat out Senator Margaret O’Brien against Rep. Chris
Cox, winning 51% of the Mike McCready, with just incumbent Marty by 11% after losing in Afendoulis, garnering
vote. over 49% of the vote. Knollenberg (R), with 2014 by only 59 votes. 56% of the vote.
52% of the vote.

The Sierra Club supported Senator Jim Ananich and

Senator-elect Stephanie Chang, who were elected to the positions of Senate Minority
Leader and Minority Floor Leader.

State House
Of our endorsed State House candidates, were victorious,41/61
including five candidates who flipped their seats!
District 18 District 19 District 40 District 41 District 71

Lauri Pohutsky, Matt Koleszar, Mari Manoogian, Padma Kuppa, Angela Witwer,
a toxicologist and lab a public school teacher, a former State an engineer and activist, a business owner, won a
tech, beat Republican won his race against Department employee, won her race against very competitive race
opponent Brian Meakin current Republican Rep. defeated Republican Republican candidate against Republican
with just over 50% of Jeff Noble, with 51% of David Wolkinson, Doug Tietz with 51% of candidate Christine
the vote. the vote. winning 57% of the the vote. Barnes, garnering 51% of
. vote. the vote.

The Sierra Club supported Representative Christine Greig and

Representative Yousef Rabhi, who were elected to the positions of House Minority
Leader and Minority Floor Leader.
 Improving Democracy
Two of the most impressive victories in Michigan this election were the adoption of
Proposals 2 & 3 to end political gerrymandering and add voting rights to the MI
Constititution. Having a strong, more secure and equitable Democracy is key for
improving environmental protection and fighting environmental injustice.

Voters not Politicians (Prop 2) Promote the Vote (Prop 3)

won with 61.2% of the vote won with 66.9% of the vote

Over 100 Sierra Club members were

involved with Voters not Politicians and Promote the Vote
full-time and from the beginning.

Sierra Club also hired a full-time Democracy Organizer,

Amanda Robert, to work on Proposals 2 and 3.

Social media paid advertising for Emails sent to MI Sierra Club

the Proposals reached members and supporters led to

47,581 75,351
individuals engagements
 $$ Finance
Total Raised this Election Cycle:
$418,500
this is an all-time record fundraising year for the Chapter,
smashing our fundraising record from 2016.

Total Raised for PAC Contributions totalling Woiwode Fund raised National contributed
$66,000 $61,500 $24,000 $276,000
from our mail and e-mail to candidates and to pay for In support of
appeal, fundraisers, and Voters Not Politicians by Sarah Tresedder’s Political Gretchen Whitmer’s
large donors large donors Organizer Position campaign for Governor

Total contributed this Election Cycle:

$68,700
$44,950 $18,250 $4,000 $1,500
donated directly to state donated directly to federal donated directly to Gretchen donated directly to Dana
and local candidates candidates Whitmer’s campaign Nessel’s campaign

Voters Not Politicans Promote the Vote

(Proposal 2) (Proposal 3)
$80,000 $100,000
in organizational contributions in organizational contributions

$20,000
in direct contributions
 Internship Program
58 political interns
We recruited and trained
and deployed them onto 30 endorsed races!

Our interns broke records for voter contact and engagement. On average, they worked
a total of ~400 hours/week on campaigns across the state, contacting over 30,000
voters, organizing events, and representing the Sierra Club proudly. Over the course of
the election cycle, seven interns were hired as paid staff on campaigns as well, ranging
from roles in finance, field, and even campaign management.

Victory Corp
In addition to our amazing interns, the National Political Team partnered with our Michi-
gan Chapter to embed four Sierra Club staffers on priority races. Our endorsed candi-
dates won in every race that featured a VIctory Corp organizer.

Courtney Bourgoin Allison LaPlatt Juliette Hrit Jacob Stern

Gretchen Whitmer Dana Nessel Elissa Slotkin Haley Stevens
Governor Attorney General 8th Congressional 11th Congressional
District District
 Political Program
Political Roadshows
The Sierra Club organized
20 Political Roadshow Presentations
around the state where we presented on the
“Politics of the Environment”, informing individ-
uals about issues and candidates we supported
in the midterms.
- Presented in Flint, Ann Arbor, Jackson, Port
Huron, Oakland, Brighton, Kalamazoo, Grand
Rapids, Traverse City, Petoskey, Sault Ste. Marie,
and East Lansing
- Over 400 people attended and dozens of
lawmakers and candidates came to speak

Training & Volunteering

In addition to presentations, we hosted
three candidate trainings
and
three campaign trainings
where we taught candidates, campaign man-
agers, students, and Sierra Club activists
about the basics of campaigning organizing.
Over 100 people attended these events,
including Representative-elects Laurie
Pohutsky and Padma Kupp and campaign
staff for Sean McCann, Mallory McMorrow,
Kristy Pagan, Curtis Hertel Jr., and more!

Sierra Club had over

200 Sierra Club members
volunteer on endorsed campaigns around
the state, contributing to over
20,000 additional voter contacts.
Media Report
Webpages
6,805
views of Sierra Club
2,782
views of the Gretchen Whitmer
endorsement webpages for candidates Landing Page
and Proposals 2 and 3

Paid Advertising Social Media

Ads seen
70,052
913,336 page engagements
different times between
10/23 - 11/6
638
new likes

1,156
21,351
913,336
average views per post

total individuals clicks

461
tweets promoting
candidates and proposals

436,900
457,596 tweet impressions
people reached
447
mentions

Election Guide
25,000
Sierra Club members utilized our
Our guide was also featured in
Between The Lines Progressive Voter
Guide, Michigan’s premier LGBTQ
election guide election guide for 75,000 voters
So,
What’s Next?
Looking past the midterm
While our hard work paid off in many ways this election, there is still much to be done. We are already
gearing up for our next battles and determining where we need to put our time and resources. Look-
ing ahead, we will be focusing on:

Lame Duck Session 2018

Starting at the end of November, the State Legislature will be back in full swing and beginning lame
duck. The Sierra Club will be weighing in on multiple topics including Line 5, solar tax policy, PFAS
water contamination, and much more during this chaotic legislative time.

Lame Duck Lobby Day

We will be partnering with Oil & Water Don’t Mix to organize a Lame Duck Lobby Day Tuesday, Novem-
ber 27 focused on water issues, in particular the Line 5 pipeline.

Transforming the Transition

With a new Governor taking office in 2019 who prioritizes clean drinking water, we have the chance to
improve the make up of many state boards and commissions. The Sierra Club will be recruiting envi-
ronmental experts and leaders to apply for these opportunities to support Gretcehn Whitmer's vision.

Pushing for Environmental Leaders in Committees

The Sierra Club will be campaigning to get environmental champions put into leadership positions on
a number of state committees in the House and Senate.

Raising Funds for 2020

We are already building our program for the 2020 election. In order for us to continue electing strong
environmentalists and training the next generation of political leaders, we need your help to fund our
political program. If you like what we are doing and want to contribute, follow the link provided here:
http://tinyurl.com/q42nfob