Humane PA PAC, dedicated to ensuring that Pennsylvania voters who care about animal welfare know which candidates deserve their support, is pleased to present its endorsements for Pennsylvania State Offices in the upcoming general election on Tuesday, November 5th:
Humane PA 2024 General Election Endorsements
How do we choose who to endorse?
Our endorsement process is taken very seriously, and we spend a great deal of time reviewing and evaluating a legislator's (incumbent) voting record and leadership on animal bills. Endorsement priority is always given to an incumbent with a good record, regardless of party. This means that even when a current legislator's challenger submits a great survey, the incumbent with a proven track record will secure our endorsement. We stand by our friends, particularly those who are committed leaders in the fight against cruelty. As a non-partisan, single issue organization, Humane PA only considers a candidate’s stance on animal protection and their electability when evaluating them for endorsement.
Through our endorsement survey, we give all candidates the opportunity to let us know where they stand on animal cruelty. We then measure each candidate’s commitment to stand strong for the humane treatment of animals against that of their opponent(s). Our survey questions candidates about crucial pending animal legislation, including bills that garner widespread support, and those that are seen as more challenging and likely to encounter opposition. Courageous stands on contentious legislation are weighted more heavily. Additionally, we request that candidates share information about themselves, the significance of animals in their lives, and their perspectives on the treatment of animals. We also take note of favorable animal positions on a candidate's campaign materials and their social media.
Survey responses are crucial in deciding which candidates will earn our endorsement. If two non-incumbent candidates are equally qualified based on survey results, we will recommend both. In districts where we don't know enough about the candidate, we make no recommendation. Sometimes, neither candidate is particularly strong on humane issues. That presents an opportunity for you, the voter. You can query your candidates on animal issues and ask them to take our survey. All responses are kept strictly confidential and allow us to evaluate the level of commitment a candidate has to helping protect Pennsylvania’s animals from cruel treatment.
Challenges this Session:
With no priority anti-cruelty bills receiving a floor vote by either chamber, other than the Dog Law amendments, this legislative session has been particularly challenging to evaluate. As a result, in determining who to endorse this year, we’ve had to look back at several legislative sessions and consider voting scorecards, bill sponsorships, and leadership on these issues. Further, while the response to our survey this year has been terrific and the number of committed humane-oriented candidates inspiring, the sheer volume has made our endorsement process even more challenging, as we had to compare new candidates with strong incumbent supporters.
As many of you know, the bill to end cruel live pigeon shoots was successfully voted on in the House Judiciary Committee and that vote weighed heavily in our endorsements. At the time of the writing of this blog, and the release of our endorsements, the bill has -unfortunately and inexplicably - failed to receive a full House vote. Should a vote on the pigeon shoot bill, or any of the other animal-related bills, be forthcoming prior to the election, we will let you know, and our endorsements may be updated accordingly.
Our Goal
Our goal is for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to be a kinder place for animals and for our legislature to pass appropriate laws to protect animals and eliminate cruelty from our state. Thus, we encourage everyone who cares deeply about these issues to consider and be guided by our endorsements, and to support candidates who will in turn support a humane agenda.
Thank you to all of the candidates who took the time to complete our survey. And good luck to all of our Humane PA 2024 Endorsed Candidates!
*Please note, as a registered state political action committee, we only issue endorsements of candidates for state offices and make no endorsements for federal offices.
