Enviro group hopes to unseat Rep. Michele Bachmann

The League of Conservation Voters announced Wednesday that it will work to defeat Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) this year.

The group named Bachmann to its “Dirty Dozen” list of targets for the 2010 cycle, but with a twist – LCV said she won 60 percent in an online vote LCV hosted to select a “people’s choice” addition to the list.

“Representative Bachmann’s landslide win as the ‘People’s Choice’ clearly shows voters are fed up with her over-the-top, anti-science rhetoric in which she continually parrots the talking points of Big Oil and other corporate polluters,” said Tony Massaro, LCV’s senior vice president for political affairs, in a statement.

The group criticized Bachmann for voting against climate and energy legislation the House approved last year. LCV also cited several Bachmann statements on environmental issues, such as her pronouncement that global warming is “voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.”

The Hill’s Race Ratings list Bachmann’s seat as “lean Republican.” Bachmann will likely face Minnesota state Sen. Tarryl Clark or Dr. Maureen Reed in November.

LCV did not say how much it plans to spend in its effort to unseat Bachmann, who was first elected in 2006, or what tactics it will employ. The group’s efforts in past races have included ads, field work, direct mail, canvassing and other activities, LCV spokeswoman Kate Geller said.

“We are currently researching the race to see what’s useful,” she said. The group spent $1.5 million total on its “Dirty Dozen” campaigns in 2008, Geller said.

Bachmann is a conservative who has become known for making provocative comments. She drew criticism from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) this week for denying a protester shouted a racial epithet at Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) during last month’s healthcare battle.

Other members of LCV’s “Dirty Dozen” announced thus far are Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and former GOP House members Steve Pearce (N.M.) and Richard Pombo (Calif.), who are seeking to return to Congress.