AR-News: Humane USA Helps Defeat CA State Senator Rico Oller in Congressional Race

[Political Animal]

Humane USA Helps Defeat Rico Oller in California 3rd
Congressional District Republican Primary

State Senator Rico Oller, who entered the Republican
primary for the 3rd Congressional District in
California as a heavy favorite, went down to defeat
March 2nd in a close three-way race after Humane USA
mounted an independent expenditure campaign that
highlighted his miserable record on animal welfare
issues.  Election results indicate that former
California Attorney General Dan Lungren bested Oller
and Mary Ose, the sister of incumbent U.S.
Representative Doug Ose, for the right to face off
against Democrat Gabe Castillo in the November general
election.  Lungren beat Oller by just 1,600 votes out
of more than 79,000 cast for Republican candidates in
the district, although some absentee ballots still
have not been counted.  Ose trailed Lungren by about
11,000 votes.

Humane USA waged a blistering campaign against Oller
during the last two weeks of the race, sending
mailings to Republican voters in the district with a
history of donating to animal welfare groups.  Humane
USA also ran hard-hitting radio advertisements during
the final five days of the campaign.  The Sacramento
Bee, the dominant newspaper in the district, covered
our campaign and provided a litany of many of Oller’s
indefensible votes.  The mailers, the radio ads, and
the press coverage highlighted that Oller was one of
just a handful of state legislators to oppose bills to
strengthen laws against cockfighting and dogfighting,
to require the reporting of serious animal abuse and
neglect, to halt abuses at puppy mills, and to require
the addition of a bittering agent to antifreeze to
render it non-toxic to children and pets.  It appears
that these efforts, along with an independent campaign
by the Republican Mainstreet Partnership PAC – a group
that supports moderate Republicans – conveyed the
message that Oller was an extremist on a range of
issues and could not be trusted in office.

The Republican nominee for the 3rd Congressional
District is heavily favored to win this
Republican-leaning district, so it was up to Humane
USA to educate voters about Oller’s extreme record in
the primary.  We are delighted that Republican voters
heard our message and decided not to send Rico Oller
to Congress.  We hope that the decisive role we played
in this race sends a message to all candidates that
support for animal welfare legislation is not only the
right policy position, but it’s also good politics.


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