Big winners of HSUS advertising

In addition to direct contributions to federal candidates and the national parties, many organizations also spend money on advertising to influence elections. Strict rules govern these expenditures and they must be reported to the Federal Election Commission.

Independent expenditures are ads that expressly advocate the election or defeat of specific candidates and are aimed at the electorate as a whole. Under federal rules, these expenditures must be made completely independent of the candidates, with no coordination, and they can only be made by the organization's PAC.

In this election the big winners of HSUS advertising dollars were:

Rep. Gary Peters (MI) $148,744
Rep. Nick Rahall (WV) $133,167
Sen. David Vitter (LA) $125,276
Rep. Betty Sutton (OH) $111,997
Rep. Mary Bono Mack (CA) $107,129

Playing nice with HSUS, scoring a perfect 100, or sponsoring a bill pays big.