ALEC Loses Ground in Election

The Center for Media and Democracy’s PR Watch reports that during the primary and general elections in the 2012 election cycle, and during recall elections held since 2010, 117 members of the American Legislative Exchange Council lost their seats. Arizona, Wisconsin and Minnesota were three states where ALEC lost considerable ground.

ALEC is a national organization that brings state-level legislators and corporate lobbyists together to write legislation behind closed doors. The model bills developed by ALEC have been the subject of criticism by groups including Color of Change and CMD, which launched the site ALEC Exposed. Earlier this year, Moyers & Company took a closer look at ALEC with the documentary “United States of ALEC,” which will be rebroadcast this weekend on many public television stations.

We’ve updated our interactive map, which identifies state legislators who are members of ALEC, to reflect the recent elections. But many ALEC legislators still serve at the state level, and it’s unclear how many newly elected state representatives will join the group.

You can help us complete our map of ALEC legislators by calling your local representatives — if you discover that they’re ALEC members, or if you discover that they were once members but have publicly renounced the group, let us know using our the form on our ALEC map.