Steyer targets GOP candidate with $3M ad campaign

Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer is rolling out a $3 million ad campaign tethering Republican Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land to conservative donors Charles and David Koch.

The TV, digital and radio ads tie Land, who is running for the open Senate seat in Michigan, to the billionaire Koch brother’s energy agenda.

{mosads}The TV ad, “Consequences,” blames a Koch-owned petroleum coke for contaminating and polluting a nearby town, which it alleges the company dumped.

“Petroleum coke: oil waste dumped by Terri Lyn Land’s out-of-state billionaire backers,” the 60-second ad buy states. “Those same out-of-state billionaires, the Koch brothers, have dumped nearly $7 million to help buy her a Senate seat, so they can keep polluting across Michigan.”

“Michigan has been dumped on enough. On Election Day let’s dump Terri Lynn Land,” it says.

Koch Industries has said it removed the pet coke from the state over one year ago, and claims it does not currently store the product anywhere in Michigan.

The $3 million ad buy from Steyer’s political arm, NextGen Climate, will run in the Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint and Traverse City TV markets.

Land is running against Democrat Rep. Gary Peters (Mich.).

While greens have hit Land on her ties to the Koch brothers, arguing she is against environment-friendly policies, Land has said she believes climate change is real.

In June, Land said “protecting” Michigan from climate change was important but that her top priority for the state is jobs.