California billionaire and climate activist Tom Steyer plans to try to help Democrats win back the Washington state Senate.
![File photo of Tom Steyer](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/68a6d4e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/280x256+0+0/resize/880x805!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmediad.publicbroadcasting.net%2Fp%2Fnorthwestnews%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Fcard_280%2Fpublic%2F201408%2Fsteyer.jpg)
Steyer and his NextGen Political Action Committee plan to target three to four state legislative races — likely Washington state Senate races. They will work in coordination with state environmentalists who have their own political action committees.
Their goal, they said, is to secure a ‘pro-climate majority’ in the Washington Senate that could then help pass Governor Inslee’s climate agenda which includes a possible cap-and-trade system.
NextGen recently registered a new political action committee in Washington. Last year, Steyer pumped more than $500,000 into the state. A good chunk of that money went to an unsuccessful effort to defeat a Republican state Senate candidate in a special election.
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