Steyer focuses on voter turnout for midterms

Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer is focusing his efforts on convincing people who care about the environment to vote in the midterm elections.

At an climate event in Aspen, Colo., Steyer said he is not prioritizing efforts to sway voters to support certain candidates like Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who is running for reelection with support from Steyer’s NextGen Climate organization, according to Denver television station KDVR.

{mosads}Steyer said he is focused “not so much on TV ads but on the things that will be old-fashioned, 18th-century politics, trying to get local people to talk to local voters and citizens and why it’s important enough for them to get off the couch and go down to the polling place in the second Tuesday in November,” according to KDVR.

He said voters who support Udall are some of the most likely to avoid the election.

“This is much more about showing up than persuasion,” he said.

Steyer’s goal is to raise $50 million in this election cycle for pro-environment candidates and to match it with his own money. KDVR reported that he has raised $7 million so far.

Some of the money has gone to television ads, targeting people such as Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst (R) and Udall opponent Rep. Cory Gardner (R).