PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — One of the country’s biggest environmental groups is going on the air in Rhode Island Tuesday with a major ad buy supporting Democrat Seth Magaziner and criticizing Republican Allan Fung as they vie to replace retiring Congressman Jim Langevin.

LCV Victory Fund, the political arm of the League of Conservation Voters, told 12 News it is spending $400,000 on the new TV ad. The lion’s share of that budget is a $367,000 buy on broadcast, cable and streaming TV. It’s the first outside group to spend major money in the 2nd Congressional District race.

The 30-second commercial — titled “Leader” — argues Magaziner is the candidate best positioned to tackle climate change in Congress. It argues Fung “would help give control of Congress to extreme MAGA Republicans and the Big Oil companies.”

Magaziner, the ad concludes, is “an easy choice.”

The new commercial is set to give Magaziner heavy dominance among the Democrats running in the 2nd Congressional District, coming on top of his own campaign’s six-figure advertising push that began at the start of August. Magaziner is set to face party rivals Sarah Morgenthau, David Segal and Joy Fox in a live TV debate Tuesday night on WPRI 12.

LCV Victory Fund’s spot will hit local screens on the same day Fung himself will begin airing his first TV ad, a high-energy 60-second spot that reintroduces Fung to voters as a former Cranston mayor who supports law enforcement and low gas prices.

Eva Estrada, LCV Victory Fund’s regional campaigns director, said the organization is focused on supporting candidates who share the group’s values when it comes to climate change.

“Rhode Island has become a trailblazer for clean energy under Magaziner’s leadership as treasurer, and we are confident that he will continue to be a strong voice for climate, jobs, and justice in Congress – unlike Republican Allan Fung,” Estrada said in a statement.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has worked to turn LCV Victory Fund’s support for Magaziner into a liability, pointing out that the organization supported the failed Green New Deal resolution which Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey advanced in 2019.

“Seth Magaziner is receiving support from a radical group that wants to weaken American energy because his extreme liberal values fit right in with their anti-energy agenda,” said Samantha Bullock, a spokeswoman for the NRCC.