EATS Act likely to be dead on arrival in 119th Congress as voters appeared to have ousted Rep. John Duarte, who tried to unwind a voter-approved farm-animal-welfare law in California that the U.S. Supreme Court declared as constitutionally sound.
Washington D.C. — Animal Wellness Action declared that the defeat of U.S. Representative John Duarte, R-Calif., makes the effort to pass the EATS Act in the new Congress even more improbable.
Duarte was defeated in part because of an independent expenditure effort by Animal Wellness Action highlighting his leadership role in cosponsoring and promoting the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417, a bill to federally overturn state laws ensuring the humane housing of farm animals, including Proposition 12 in his home state of California. Defeating that bill has been a top priority of Animal Wellness Action, other animal welfare groups, and a wide range of agricultural organizations.
Animal Wellness Action, a national policy and political organization seeking to enhance and advance legal protections for animals, ran television advertisements targeting tens of thousands of animal welfare voters in the 13th district. The group also backed Republican David Valadao in the adjacent and equally competitive 22nd district to the south. Valadao co-led a letter, co-signed by 15 other Republicans, opposing EATS, and Animal Wellness Action conducted an independent expenditure for him, highlighting his work on animal welfare. Valadao prevailed in his race, and his opposition to EATS and his support for other animal welfare reforms was a boon to his campaign.
More broadly, Animal Wellness Action declared victory in five other congressional races where it conducted independent expenditure campaigns during the 2024 elections. The organization helped to defeat two other incumbents — Brandon Williams, R-N.Y. in the 22nd district, and Michelle Steel, R-Calif., in the 45th district — for their refusal to back the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking (FIGHT) Act, H.R. 2742. In addition to the pro-animal Valadao, Animal Wellness Action-endorsed animal protection leaders Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., prevailed in their competitive races. Fitzpatrick and Mace performed especially well, eclipsing President Trump’s performance in their districts.
“Animal protection should be viewed as a universal value, and these election results again underscore that trying to gut state laws on animal welfare and not lifting a finger to crack down on vicious practices like dogfighting and cockfighting are politically treacherous activities,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “The three lawmakers whom we helped defeat could have easily avoided our active campaigning against them by simply supporting mainstream animal welfare sensibilities.”
“It’s our goal to see animal protection issues greeted with support from lawmakers and voters no matter where they stand ideologically,” added Pacelle. “We supported just about an equal number of Democrats and Republicans in our independent campaigns. The House will be considerably stronger on animal welfare after these campaigns alerted voters to the lawmakers’ records, with anti-animal-welfare lawmakers defeated and animal-welfare leaders re-elected.”
The EATS Act is an attack on animal welfare and on farmers who have collectively invested billions of dollars in more humane housing. It will put many of them out of business by favoring production from U.S.-based and foreign-owned factory farms that confine the animals so severely that they cannot move.
Here is a more detailed rundown of the seven key races where AWA conducted independent expenditure campaigns and the AWA-endorsed candidate won:
- Democrat Adam Gray appears poised to defeat Republican incumbent John Duarte in California’s 13th congressional district, the most important 2024 House race for the future of animal welfare. Gray called EATS “a misguided attempt funded by the pork industry and a Chinese multi-national corporation to take away the rights of California voters to set standards for the food they eat.” Here is the group’s ad highlighting Duarte’s cosponsoring of EATS and the congressman’s ties to Smithfield Foods, the China-controlled company that is lobbying to pass EATS. Duarte refused to support even one of the more than 50 animal welfare bills introduced this term across a range of issues from cracking down on dogfighters and puppy mills to ensuring humane testing of drugs and cosmetics.
- Also in California’s Central Valley, Rep. David Valadao showed broad support for animal welfare. This was in addition to his work against the EATS Act. Valadao was instrumental in adding language to the Ag-FDA appropriations bill directing the Food and Drug Administration to implement the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, a 2022 law allowing drug developers to test their products without harming animals. The group’s ad in support of Rep. Valadao can be seen here.
- Democrat Derek Tran, D-Calif., declared victory in his race to unseat Republican incumbent Michelle Steel, R-Calif., in California’s 45th congressional district, centered in Orange County. Steel did not vote for any animal welfare priority that came to the House floor this term, nor did she cosponsor the FIGHT Act or any other animal welfare bill. Here is the ad Animal Wellness Action ran in that race.
- Republican Nancy Mace, R-S.C., won her race comfortably and will return for a third term. She is the lead Republican on a host of animal protection bills, including the Minks in Narrowly Kept Spaces (MINKS) Are Superspreaders Act (H.R. 7670), which aims to address the public health threat of domestic mink farming; the Addressing Digestive Distress in the Stomachs of Our Youth (ADD SOY) Act (H.R. 1619), which would ease a production burden on dairy cows by giving kids a non-dairy milk option in the National School Lunch Program; and the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons (SAW) Act (H.R. 9568), which would ban recreationally killing or maiming wildlife with motor vehicles on federal lands. Here is the ad that played in her district.
- Democrat John Mannion, D-N.Y., a strong animal advocate for years as a New York state senator, prevailed in his race against first-term Republican Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., who consistently voted against animal welfare and even refused to support the FIGHT Act (H.R. 2742), which would crack down on criminal dogfighting and cockfighting rings. The New York Sheriffs’ Association is a strong backer of FIGHT, and Williams refused to cosponsor the bill even after the sheriffs’ organization announced its support. The Animal Wellness Action ad opposing Brandon Williams can be viewed here.
- Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., was re-elected to his fifth term. Animal Wellness Action touted his work as the lead Republican on the Kangaroo Protection Act (H.R. 4995), which would end the commercial sale of products made from kangaroo skins and other kangaroo parts, as well as the Puppy Protection Act (H.R. 1624) and several other priority bills. The ad supporting Rep. Fitzpatrick can be seen here.
- Democrat Don Davis, D-N.C., one of the most reliable animal welfare advocates on the House Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over most animal-related issues, won re-election in his very competitive race to represent eastern North Carolina’s 1st congressional district. The group’s ad backing Rep. Davis can be viewed here.
Animal Wellness Action conducted television advertising without respect to party affiliation, favoring candidates with a demonstrated commitment to animal welfare and opposing candidates who would support policies that harm animals.
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Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) whose mission is to help animals by promoting laws and regulations at federal, state and local levels that forbid cruelty to all animals. The group also works to enforce existing anti-cruelty and wildlife protection laws. Animal Wellness Action believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @AWAction_News
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