NextGen Nevada

NextGen Nevada was committed to “sending all six electoral votes to the Democratic nominee for president”² in 2020 and spent more than $2.94 million dollars in the 2020 election cycle in Nevada. ³

NextGen Nevada has a history of partnering with left-leaning organizations since its founding, including Everytown for Gun Safety, ⁴ the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Action Fund,⁴  and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN). ⁴  NGNV claims to have “secured Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s victory through novel community organizing” in Nevada. ⁵

History and Leadership

NextGen America was founded in 2013 by left-wing billionaire and unsuccessful 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer,⁶ and NextGen Nevada has been active in statewide elections since at least 2016, when the group rallied against Donald Trump and then-Representative Joe Heck (R-NV) on climate change issues. ⁷

Mark Riffenburg is the state director of NextGen Nevada. ⁸ Riffenburg is also the Nevada state director of the left-wing environmental organization Defend our Future. ^{9 10} Riffenburg previously worked as a regional organizing director for the Nevada State Democratic Party and as a field organizer for Hillary for America. ¹¹

Activities and Funding

NextGen Nevada was committed to “sending all six electoral votes to the Democratic nominee for president”² and spent more than $2.94 million during the 2020 election cycle in support of Democratic nominee Joe Biden. ³ This final total was significantly higher than an initial $1,000,000 investment in 2019 to “keep Nevada Blue in 2020.” ¹²

Out of the $2.94 million it spent in 2020, NextGen Nevada spent $2.865 million on organizers and fellows to “turn out young voters and defeat Donald Trump,” ³ with a focus on 80 early voting sites on college campuses across the state. ¹²

NextGen Nevada also hosted and promoted several events prior to the 2020 election in Clark County, Nevada, which were paid for by the left-of-center NextGen Climate Action Committee Super PAC. These events included a ballot drop-off celebration with Clark County commissioner Justin Jones (D)¹³ and free food at polling locations. ¹⁴

In 2018, NextGen Nevada spent $2.4 million in support of Democratic candidates across the state. ⁴

That same year, NextGen Nevada partnered with anti-gun organizations Giffords, Everytown for Gun Safety, and ACRONYM to launch the $1.75 million Our Lives, Our Vote program designed to empower high school students and to vote out politicians “beholden to the NRA.” ^{4 15} Through this program, NextGen Nevada worked with left-leaning Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) to register high school students to vote. ⁴

In 2018, NextGen Nevada partnered with the left-of-center labor union group For Our Future (FOF) and knocked on over 530,000 doors. NextGen Nevada also worked as a part of GiveGreen,⁴ a fundraising partnership between NextGen America, the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund (LCV Victory Fund), and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Action Fund, which raised $683,655.45 for Democratic candidates in Nevada in 2018. ⁴