In head-to-head match-ups between candidates SAOVA endorsed and those supported by the animal rightists (Humane Society of the United States, HSUS, and its allies), our candidates won 15 out of 23 contests, or better than 65%. Animal rightists’ expenditures of hundreds of thousands of dollars failed to defeat New Mexico’s Rep. Heather Wilson and other key supporters of our rights.

Our record is all the more impressive considering an important difference between our endorsements and those of the HSUS. We endorse only candidates with either solid voting records or favorable responses to SAOVA’s issues questionnaire, and we endorse based only on issues, not on prospects of winning. Evidence indicates that HSUS, on the other hand, aims to inflate its record by endorsing probable winners. SAOVA was contacted by candidates wishing to distance themselves from the animal rightists’ endorsements, and who asserted their support for sportsmen and animal owners. Further, we noted three dozen federal HSUS endorsees who are popular individuals—and active sportsmen, all of whom SAOVA endorsed.

SAOVA endorsees who defeated HSUS endorsees are
CA – John Doolittle
CT – Joe Courtney
IA – Steve King
IN – Mark Souder
NJ – Scott Garrett
MI – Tim Walberg, Joe Knollenberg, John Dingell
NM – Heather Wilson
OH – Paul Gilmor
TN – Jim Cooper
TX – Henry Bonilla
VA – Thelma Drake, Bob Goodlatte
WI – Jim Sensenbrenner

SAOVA endorsees who were defeated are
CA – Richard Pombo
KY – Ken Lucas
IL – Andrea Zinga
MO – Jim Talent
MT – Conrad Burns
NC – Charles Taylor
OH – Chuck Blasdel
PA – Don Sherwood

Highlights of the election include the resounding defeat of Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who promoted the animal rightist’s agenda to cripple responsible dog breeding under the guise of "closing loopholes" pertaining to "puppy mills." Santorum’s infamous Puppy Protection Act of 2001, and his Pet Animal Welfare Statute (PAWS) in the current session, were defeated with your help. We don’t know what to expect from Santorum’s replacement, Bob Casey, and no doubt the HSUS will find another tool to promote their anti-pet breeding agenda. We hope Santorum’s fate leads to greater circumspection among those legislators approached by HSUS.

Turncoat hypocrites defeated: Voters also dumped two GOP members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus who voted for the HSUS’s anti-hunting bill and other animal rightist measures: John Sweeney (R-NY20) and Rob Simmons (R-CT2).

Utah voters said "no" to animal rightist Judge Leslie A. Lewis, who misused her position to bully and berate hunters from the bench.

Sportsmen and animal owners won three of five ballot fights. Georgia voters overwhelmingly passed Constitutional Amendment 2 by 81 percent, protecting Georgia citizens’ right to hunt and fish. Florida’s voters passed Amendment 3, increasing voter requirements for laws by petition that bypass the legislature. In a similar vein, Colorado voters defeated Amendment 38, which would have stripped current fraud and misrepresentation safeguards from ballot measures.

Our losses were in Arizona, which passed Proposition 204, an animal rightist initiative forcing changes in livestock farming that no reputable agriculture or veterinary group supports, and in Michigan. Michigan hunters lost on Proposal 3, to permit dove hunting to continue in the state.

So what can we expect from the next Congress? Despite our key victories, there is cause for concern. With the change in party control, committee chairmen who have been our staunch protectors, such as Bob Goodlatte of the House Agriculture Committee and Saxby Chambliss of the Senate Agriculture Committee will be replaced. We look forward, of course, to committed sportsmen Collin Peterson’s and John Dingell’s chairmanship of the House Agriculture Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee respectively.

The new Democratic majorities may be somewhat more amenable to animal rightist initiatives, but the new House members are largely uneducated on such issues. Certainly the new crop of "freshman" legislators, regardless of party, need to hear from us. They need to know that our rights with respect to animals and hunting are important to us, and that the HSUS, despite its misleading name, is not the nation’s authority on animal welfare.

And the animal rightists will move forward. Having probed some of the limitations on pressing a radical agenda at the Federal level, they will find more effective, perhaps even more deceptive, ways to promote their ideology. We can expect them to continue the trend of more activism at the state and local level, and we will need more and better-organized opposition locally.

In the remainder of this year, your help is needed on unfinished business. The Senate has passed S3880, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), as version of which is pending in the House as HR1439. Even though the Senate version is less than we had hoped for, our analysis is that it is important to lobby for passage of this measure. We do not expect as strong a bill to be submitted next year. The House also passed HR503, the Horse Slaughter Ban. This legislation sets several bad animal care and welfare precedents, and it is extremely important to prevent its passing the Senate.

You have much to be proud of in the aftermath of this election. Pitting our grassroots efforts against the huge and wealthy animal rightist machine, shunning their tactics of deception, we scored important wins. Sadly, however, the battle is far from over, and for the foreseeable future we need to keep fighting to hold our ground. Watch for our coming alerts for action on AETA and Horse Slaughter in what remains of the current session, and please plan time during this busy season to contact your new representatives.

I commend to you Virginia outdoor writer Bill Cochran's pre-election column to hunting sportsmen,

What's more important: the election or the rut? http://www.roanoke.com/outdoors/billcochran/wb/89587

Sincerely,
Bob Kane