The League of Conservation Voters came down Wednesday on the side of Sen. Frank Lautenberg in the highly charged Democratic Senate primary.

Noting that Lautenberg has earned the second highest LCV lifetime score in the Senate because of his work for environmental causes, LCV President Gene Karpinski said in a release Wednesday that “Senator Lautenberg is not just someone who votes consistently pro-environment. He is also a real leader and a champion, and that’s the kind of person we need in the Senate.”

According to the LCV’s online vote ratings, Lautenberg’s primary opponent Rep. Robert Andrews hasn’t received lower than a 90 percent rating from the group in five cycles. And interestingly, Andrews actually had a higher LCV vote rating than Lautenberg did during the 106th Congress, the 108th Congress and the first session of the 110th Congress.

— John McArdle