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Most APA-Backed Candidates Win Congressional Seats

With the election victories of 94 percent of the congressional candidates who received APAPAC funds, APA looks forward to renewed opportunities to educate and inform federal lawmakers.

APA's political action committee, APAPAC, notched an impressive record of success in the November elections, with 112 of the 119 candidates it supported winning their contests.

APAPAC contributed $365,000 to those candidates, who represented 43 states and both political parties. It also gave contributions to the national Democratic and Republican parties.

All of the funds that APAPAC distributes come from contributions from APA members and staff and their spouses.

The group's 13-member Board of Directors selects candidates to back based on their support of issues that are important to APA's agenda or to the agenda of organized medicine in general.

"Of course we hope that the full range of APA's specific priority issues is supported by every member of Congress and candidate for elective office to whom we give, but this cannot always be the case," said APAPAC Chair John Wernert, M.D. "In those situations, PAC contributions give APA an excellent opportunity to reach out to and educate members of Congress who may have supported physicians on general issues but who have not previously supported psychiatry-specific issues."

APAPAC arranged for 71 of the candidates in the latest election cycle to receive a check in person from a psychiatrist as a way to strengthen the relationship between the candidates and their psychiatrist constituents.

Of the 119 candidates who received financial support in the latest election, 107 were incumbents running for re-election, 10 were vying for their first congressional seat, and two were House of Representatives members running for a Senate seat.

Members of key committees in the health-policy realm are particular targets of APAPAC largesse.

Explaining the mission of APAPAC, John McIntyre, M.D., former chair of its board and an APA past president, said, "The board aims to represent all APA members and strongly believes that to properly and thoroughly advocate for our patients and our profession, we need to inform and educate all candidates for Congress. Our APAPAC assists us in this worthy goal."

The success of APAPAC has recently helped APA garner new cosponsors for parity legislation, he noted, and a bill to end the discriminatory copayment that Medicare beneficiaries face when they want outpatient treatment for mental illness.

Among the candidates who received financial contributions this year were Michigan otolaryngologist John Schwartz, M.D., a Republican—and son of a psychiatrist—who ran a successful campaign for a vacant House seat. He has pledged to work with APA on issues critical to it and to psychiatric patients.

Another physician who will be joining Congress and received APAPAC support was Tom Price, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon who was elected by Georgia voters to fill a vacant House seat. When he was a state senator, he worked with the Georgia district branch on several key issues. Price is a Republican.

And longtime APA ally Rep. Susan Davis, a California Democrat, also received funds from the political action committee and won re-election to her House seat. Davis's husband is an APA member and has often collaborated with APA.

As it gears up for the next election cycle, the APAPAC board is committed to reaching out to APA members who are early career psychiatrists or members-in-training (MIT). A representative of each of those groups was recently added to the APAPAC board. The MIT representative, Harsh Trivedi, M.D., noted that "there is a need to have people better understand why advocacy is important, how effective APAPAC is, and, most important, that they need to get active and join the effort."

More information about APAPAC and the candidates to whom it has made contributions is posted online in the Members Corner section of APA's Web site at <www.psych.org/members/apapac/index.cfm>. Information is also available from Jason Pray by e-mail at jpray{at}psych.org or by phone (703) 907-8581.

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