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Anti-Hunter/Animal Rightist Political Action Committees (PACs): Political Action Committee "(PAC)" is a popular term for a political group organized for the specific purpose of raising and spending money to elect (pass) and defeat candidates or ballot initiatives. Incumbent politicians' reelections are very seldom in doubt, due largely to heavy PAC donations. Such support ensures continued access to politicians, an extremely important lobbying commodity. There are over 4500 PACs registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and more operating locally in all 50 states. PACs represent business, labor or ideological interests and they affect nearly every aspect of American life. Candidates and political parties maintain registered campaign committees. Interest PACs may currently give $5,000 to a federal candidate's committee per election (primary, general or special).

Politicians supporting that pov and pay sizable operating expenses. Every dollar handled by a PAC or a campaign committee must be accounted for quarterly, creating very significant reporting requirements for such groups. Large PACs, receiving numerous individual contributions, may file 500 pages per month with the FEC, detailing that name, address and amount data. Several services such as Open Secrets summarize periodic PAC federal candidate reports. While federal PACs also report donations to state legislators, they normally aren't summarized online. That raw data may be reviewed at this FEC site.

Every state requires similar reports from local PACs and candidate campaigns. The online state reporting systems vary widely in the depth of their information and user friendliness, with Virginia's perhaps setting the high mark for timeliness, detail and ease of use. All the states' campaign finance disclosure offices may be found here.

The Humane USA Political Action Committee (HumaneUSA PAC) is the largest and most visible electioneering arm of the national U.S. animal rights (AR) movement. Its members include The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), The Fund for Animals, Farm Sanctuary, ASPCA, Doris Day Animal League, Animal Welfare Institute, The Ark Trust, Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, and others. These groups continue to press their corporate and personal agendas to end sport hunting, limit fishing, federally license all pet breeding, radically change livestock farming and end animal medical research, circuses, rodeos and zoos. This anti-hunting, anti-animal owner coalition PAC and its allies have endorsed and funded political candidates, influencing legislation and passing ballot initiatives against hunting and trapping since 1999.

Thus far in 2004, HumaneUSA PAC has spent $30,000 defeating California Senator Thomas "Rico" Oller's race for Congress, funded and/or endorsed 230 federal candidates, targeted incumbent Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and George Voinovich (R-OH), House members Bob Beauprez (R-CO7), Paul Gillmor (R-OH5), John Hostettler (R-IN8) and Heather Wilson (R-NM1). It's also effectively elected a new supporter in Joe Schwarz (R-MI7) and focused heavily on the open seat Senate races in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Carolina. The ARs are backing ballot initiatives to change Alaska's and Maine's bear hunting regulations and have another planned for 2006 to rescind Michigan's new dove hunting season.

There are also numerous state level anti-hunting, animal rights PACs. The extremely active California Political Action Committee for Animals (PAWPAC) is ten years older than is HumaneUSA PAC. A noteworthy feature of animal rightist PAC funding are very wealthy individuals such as Florida's Nanci Alexander, HumaneUSA Director, President of Animal Rights Foundation of Florida and Houston Rockets basketball team co-owner. Mrs. Alexander, while financially supporting national and state campaigning politicians, also contributed $225,000 to the Floridians for Humane Farms PAC's $1.5 million 2002 ballot referendum, which banned swine gestation crates in that state.

What is new, or almost new, this election season is the anti's state level activity. SAOVA's review of public state endorsements and campaign finance filings for the period January 1, 2001 - June 30, 2004 documented HumaneUSA PAC and allied interests' involvement in 19 states' local races, with very significant activity in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland , Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

This snapshot probably dramatically understates the current situation, as most of the state campaign donations were made in July-November 2002 and the pertinent records weren't publicly available until after the November 5, 2002 election. These delayed donations appear to be the historical norm. HumaneUSA PAC typically announces its state endorsements in early October. SAOVA's state pages have been expanded to document this state legislature activity, since many animal rightist supporters are running for reelection on November 2, 2004.

Is your state senate or house member on his list? Who's contributing to these anti-hunter, animal rightists PACs? Where is the gun owner, hunter and conservation PAC money going? There 65+ million pet owners in the U.S., but there isn't a pet owner PAC. Farm animal owners have several good ones. PAC's are serious, expensive and essential components of interest advocacy.

As resources permit, SAOVA will update the anti's additional pre-election endorsements and post-election PAC filings.