Enviro group hits Michigan congressman with new ad

By Zack Colman - 09/04/12 05:32 PM ET

An environmental group is trying to tilt a tight House race with a new TV advertisement criticizing Rep. Dan Benishek’s (R-Mich.) environmental record in the Great Lakes State.

The Michigan League of Conservation Voters (LCV) will air the 30-second spot in the Marquette, Mich., and Traverse City, Mich., markets. It is spending $330,000 on the ad, which claims the first-term congressman is too close to Big Oil and supports policies that strip environmental protections for the Great Lakes.

As of July 18, Democratic challenger Gary McDowell had more cash on hand than Benishek, according to Federal Election Commission filings. McDowell, a farmer in the Upper Peninsula and a former state representative, had more than $620,000 cash on hand, compared with Benishek’s $498,000.

The Michigan LCV offered its support for McDowell in the ad and in a statement Tuesday.

“Northern Michigan has a choice this November," Lisa Wozniak, executive director of the Michigan LCV, said in a Tuesday statement. "Congressman Benishek, who voted to eliminate safeguards that protect our state's air and water while taking campaign contributions from oil companies and other corporate polluters, or Gary McDowell, who will fight to protect our Great Lakes, knowing that water is a vital part of Michigan's way of life and an important economic resource. We think the choice is clear."

The group’s national outfit has targeted Benishek as part of a broader $1.5 million ad campaign against five GOP House incumbents who have expressed skepticism about global warming and also have connections to the fossil fuel industry.

Raffi Williams, a spokesman for the Benishek campaign, said the LCV ad is an example of groups "dumping millions of dollars to distort the truth against us." He touted Benishek's work on getting legislation to curb the infiltration of the invasive Asian carp species into the Great Lakes and his role on the Great Lakes Task Force as evidence of the congressman's support of the state's waters.

"He would never poison the Great Lakes or try to make them worse because he knows how important they are for northern Michigan -- not only for the lifestyle, but for the economy," Williams said.