NextGen Rising is the “youth vote” and organizing arm of the Tom Steyer-funded group NextGen America, formerly known and legally registered as NextGen Climate Action Committee. NextGen America launched the project in 2017. NextGen America is focused on environmental issues, especially global warming, and bills itself as a leader in opposing President Donald Trump. ¹ NextGen Rising’s purpose is to register and turn out young liberal voters to help elect Democrats. ²

NextGen America founder Tom Steyer, who funds and operates a network of “NextGen” branded advocacy organizations and the anti-Trump political action committee Need to Impeach, is a left-wing billionaire activist who spent a reported $123 million during 2018 supporting Democrats. ³

Political Activities

2017 Virginia Election

Following the election of President Trump, NextGen America (NextGen Climate Action Committtee) founded NextGen Rising to “register, engage and mobilize young people between the ages of 18 and 35,” with the expectation that these voters would support progressive Democrats. ⁴ NextGen Rising’s initial efforts supported the candidacy of then-Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D-Virginia) for Virginia governor.

NextGen Rising spent $3,300,000 supporting Northam, hiring 60 staffers, knocking on 350,000 doors, sending 300,000 texts, recruiting 1,100 volunteers, registering 20,169 voters, targeting young voters with 1,825,805 digital ads, and sending 700,000 pieces of direct mail, according to its in-house assessment of its efforts. ⁵

NextGen partnered with illegal immigration advocacy groups America’s Voice and CASA, and left-wing Center for Community Change Action in its efforts to elect Democrats to the Virginia legislature. ⁶ NextGen claimed the results showed that voters supported a liberal expansionist immigration stance and that Democrats should embrace such stances in future elections. ⁷

NextGen also partnered with the League of Conservation Voters through the GiveGreen in the States program. GiveGreen funneled over $4,100,000 toward electing Virginia Democrats. ⁸

2018 Election

During the 2018 election, NextGen Rising greatly expanded its footprint across the United States with operations in Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. ⁹ Over the course of the election NextGen Rising spent $33,000,000 to hire 750 staffers, recruit over 14,000 volunteers, create 419 campus programs, register over 250,000 voters, knock on over 850,000 doors, send over 3,000,000 texts and 10,200,000 pieces of direct mail, and targeted young voters with over 6,700,000 digital ads. ¹⁰

In Florida, NextGen Rising intervened in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, backing left-wing Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum because of his support for socialized healthcare, opposition to President Trump, and his promise to fight global warming. ¹¹ To help Gillum in the closely contested primary, NextGen sent 300,000 texts and knocked on 81,000 doors. ¹² Gillum lost the general election to conservative Republican Ron DeSantis. ¹³

In California, NextGen Rising was involved in seven congressional races, all of which flipped from Republicans to Democrats during the election. ¹⁴

NextGen championed flipping U.S. Senate seats in Nevada and Arizona from Republican to Democratic control and was involved in the Florida, Michigan, and Pennsylvania senate races as well. ¹⁵

2018 Voter Mobilization Strategy

On August 9, 2018, representatives from NextGen Rising and NextGen Climate Action held a brief phone call to discuss strategy and goals ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. Jeremiah Chapman, Erin Carhart, Ben Wessel, and Tom Steyer were present and spoke on the call.

The representatives revealed that NextGen Rising’s targets for the election include 33 House of Representatives races, 7 U.S. Senate races, and 8 gubernatorial races. Its voter mobilization goal was to register 100,000 voters by the election (75,000 by November 6, 2018), particularly college students and new voters under 35 years of age. To accomplish this, NextGen sought 15,000 volunteers nationwide. ¹⁶

1. “NextGen Climate Expands Mission, Relaunches As NextGen America.” Green Technology. July 20, 2017. Accessed March 21, 2019. https://green-technology.org/newswireup/nextgen-america/.
2. Hargreaves, Heather. “NextGen America’s Efforts in the 2018 Midterm Elections.” November 1, 2018. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://36idp73l9pta25627q676bwt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NextGen-America-National-Pre-Election-Day-Memo.pdf.
3. Au-Yeung, Angel. “How Billionaire Tom Steyer’s $123 Million Helped Democrats In The Midterms.” Forbes. November 09, 2018. Accessed March 21, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2018/11/09/how-billionaire-tom-steyers-123-million-made-a-difference-in-the-midterms/#7b590d7c3ed1.
4. Hargreaves, Heather. “NextGen America’s Efforts in the 2018 Midterm Elections.” November 1, 2018. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://36idp73l9pta25627q676bwt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NextGen-America-National-Pre-Election-Day-Memo.pdf.
5. Hargreaves, Heather. “NextGen America’s Efforts in the 2017 Virginia Election.” November 9, 2017. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://36idp73l9pta25627q676bwt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UPDATE-NGA-efforts-in-VA-2017-Election.pdf.
6. Hargreaves, Heather. “NextGen America’s Efforts in the 2017 Virginia Election.” November 9, 2017. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://36idp73l9pta25627q676bwt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UPDATE-NGA-efforts-in-VA-2017-Election.pdf.
7. Hargreaves, Heather. “NextGen America’s Efforts in the 2017 Virginia Election.” November 9, 2017. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://36idp73l9pta25627q676bwt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UPDATE-NGA-efforts-in-VA-2017-Election.pdf.
8. Hargreaves, Heather. “NextGen America’s Efforts in the 2017 Virginia Election.” November 9, 2017. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://36idp73l9pta25627q676bwt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UPDATE-NGA-efforts-in-VA-2017-Election.pdf.
9. Hargreaves, Heather. “NextGen America’s Efforts in the 2018 Midterm Elections.” November 1, 2018. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://36idp73l9pta25627q676bwt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NextGen-America-National-Pre-Election-Day-Memo.pdf.
10. Hargreaves, Heather. “NextGen America’s Efforts in the 2018 Midterm Elections.” November 1, 2018. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://36idp73l9pta25627q676bwt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NextGen-America-National-Pre-Election-Day-Memo.pdf.
11. Cass, Carly. “NextGen Florida’s Efforts in the 2018 Midterm Elections.” November 1, 2018. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://nextgenamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Florida-Pre-Election-Day-Memo.pdf.
12. Cass, Carly. “NextGen Florida’s Efforts in the 2018 Midterm Elections.” November 1, 2018. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://nextgenamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Florida-Pre-Election-Day-Memo.pdf.
13. Cooke, Charles C. W. “Florida, Man.” National Review. November 07, 2018. Accessed April 03, 2019. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/florida-man/.
14. Ehsani-Nia, Sara. “NextGen California’s Efforts in the 2018 Midterm Elections.” November 1, 2018. Accessed March 26, 20199. https://nextgenamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/CA-Pre-Election-Memo.pdf.
15. Hargreaves, Heather. “NextGen America’s Efforts in the 2018 Midterm Elections.” November 1, 2018. Accessed March 26, 2019. https://36idp73l9pta25627q676bwt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NextGen-America-National-Pre-Election-Day-Memo.pdf.
16. NextGen Rising/NextGen Climate Action Phone Call (recording). August 9, 2018. https://www.influencewatch.org/nextgen-national-call-audio-08-09-2018