In each of the last five legislative elections MFOA has sent a questionnaire to all the candidates running for the state legislature. The return of those questionnaires is important in selecting MFOA endorsed candidates and to gauge the interest in animal protection and the MFOA legislative agenda.  In previous elections the connection with animal-friendly legislators has been sufficient to find good bill sponsors and to get our message out to other legislators. Occasionally we find an exceptional legislator like Chris Muse of South Portland, who in 2003 aggressively and passionately championed the circus elephant ban legislation and campaign. But the number and strength of the responses from this year’s legislative questionnaires far surpassed any other election in 10 years of tracking and supporting animal-friendly legislators.

The number of responses returned doubled any previous election, the number of favorable responses was up 35%, 65% of MFOA endorsed candidates won, and 42 legislators got a 95-100% rating. To coincide with this favorable election outcome Maine’s inflexible hunting lobby publicly lamented the apparent disappointment in the candidates’ responses to their legislative questionnaire.

The political pendulum is swinging our way, albeit too slowly. But there is no question animal protection advocates in Maine are increasingly being accepted and listened to in today’s political discourse.  Political engagement by Maine animal activists is making a difference, which means  MFOA’s ability to champion animal protection issues in the future has increased.