Matt Gaetz gets backing of Humane Society Legislative Fund

The Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF) is backing another Florida Republican congressman fighting for re-election, throwing its support behind U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.

This is the second recent endorsement of a GOP congressman by the group, after U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo also earned its support earlier in the week.

Gaetz represents Florida’s 1st Congressional District and has made headlines with his calls for special counsel Robert Mueller to resign as head of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

But Gaetz has also used his time in Congress to speak up in support of several initiatives backed by the Humane Society.

He is the Republican lead on the Chemical Poisons Reduction Act, which would bar the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s use of certain poisons in its predator control programs. Gaetz has also opposed animal toxicity testing conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Those efforts, among others, led HSLF to endorse Gaetz in his re-election bid.

“Matt Gaetz is a trailblazer for animals in the U.S. Congress,” said Sara Amundson, president of the HSLF.

“Congressman Gaetz is fighting to prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to harm animals, and western Panhandle voters should re-elect him.”

HSLF says it does not judge candidates by party or on other issues, instead focusing on where candidates stand on animal welfare issues.

CD 1 leans heavily Republican, with Gaetz defeating his Democratic opponent in 2016 by nearly 40 percentage points.

Gaetz is facing a primary challenge from Chris Dosev and John Mills.

Phil Ehr and Jennifer Zimmerman have filed to run on the Democratic side.