PR Watch's ALEC Exposed project reports in 117 ALEC Members Voted Out in 2012:
In primary and general elections in 2012 and recall elections in 2011 and 2012, a total of 117 members and alumni of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) were voted out of office, according to research and analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), Color of Change, and others. . . .
Minnesota Down 11 ALEC Members
In Minnesota, 11 of the state's 26 known ALEC members will not return to office in 2013, thanks to retirement, redistricting, and voter rejection, according to Bluestem Prairie. Those out include Rep. Carol McFarlane (R-53B), Sen. Chris Gerlach (R-37), former ALEC state chair Sen. Gen Olson (R-33), Sen. Gretchen Hoffman (R-10), Rep. Ron Shimanski (R-18A), Sen. Ted Daley (R-38), Rep. Connie Doepke (R-33B), Sen. Mike Parry (R-26), Sen. Amy Koch (R-19), Sen. John Howe (R-28), and Rep. King Banaian (R-15B). . . .
What's Ahead?
In state legislative campaigns in Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington State, membership in and support of ALEC has become a public campaign issue in the last year and a half. During that time, 70 state legislators nationwide have publicly cut ties to ALEC.
Many ALEC legislators, however, were reelected, and it is unknown how many newly elected state legislators will be drafted by ALEC this coming year. In 2010, Republicans gained "trifecta" control (meaning members of one political party hold the governorship as well as the majority in both bodies of the state legislature) over 21 states. After the 2012 election, there are now 23 states with Republican trifectas.
Although ALEC claims to be nonpartisan, its legislative membership is overwhelmingly Republican. As CMD has reported, after the 2010 election a flood of nearly identical bills emerged from statehouses under Republican control. When CMD launched ALECexposed.org in July 2011, the public was able to view over 800 "model" bills directly attributable to ALEC for the first time, and link many of these proposals to their ALEC templates.
It is expected that 2012 will generate a new raft of ALEC legislation, including bills to roll back taxes and starve state government, bills to privatize public schools, bills to privatize public pensions and other government services and, of course, bills to defund and dismantle unions. What has changed is that now there are active citizen groups across the nation tracking ALEC members, bills and conferences and helping to shed a light on this organization that allows corporate lobbyists to vote as equals with legislators behind closed doors on proposals to change your rights and obligations under the law.
Republicans lost control of both houses of the Minnesota Legislature, as well as control of the CD8 seat when one-term wonder Chip Cravaack fell to Rick Nolan.
Today, via its Rally fundraising page, the Republican Party of Minnesota sent out a fundraising message calling for the defeat of Dayton, Franken, and the "Democrat" House in 2014, so the dreams of ALEC's corporate sponsors aren't dead yet.
Bill Guidera, who has represented Rupert Murdoch's News Corp at ALEC meetings, remains the MNGOP's Finance Chair.
And of course, there's still The Draz and Denny McNamara.
Photo: Anti-ALEC protester, Wisconsin, 2012. Photo from the Center for Media and Democracy, via Salon.
Related posts: Back to 2007: MNGOP Finance Chair & News Corp Veep Bill Guidera cavorts with ALEC
Laura Brod's fractured fairytales, ALEC edition: a series of unfortunately identical model bills
Made ALEC man Drazkowski captures attention of outdoors community in the worst possible way
In 2011, Denny McNamara & Amy Koch were ALEC Natural Resources Task Force members
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