With the 2004 elections just a few months away, distributors around the country are rallying to support pro-growth congressional candidates.

On April 13, members of the Kentucky Equipment Distributors (KED) joined forces as part of AED’s ImPACt 2004 program to help reelect Rep. Anne Northup, R-KY. According to AED, Northup, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, is known as a staunch opponent of government competition with the private sector and a strong supporter of federal infrastructure programs.

The Northup event marked the first AED ImPACt 2004 event of the year and the second of the current election cycle. Through the ImPACt program, AED’s Political Action Committee (PAC) encourages distributors around the country to join together at the local group level to support House and Senate candidates. At each ImPACt event, AED PAC matches the combined local group contributions to the candidate up to $2,500.

According to Scott Hunt of Hunt Tractor, Louisville, KY, 2004 president of KED, the event raised more than $7,000 to support Northup’s reelection effort. The event marked the sixth ImPACt event KED members have organized for Northup since she first ran for Congress in 1996.

AED in South Dakota

Not to be outdone, AED members in South Dakota held two ImPACt meetings in April. The first was with former-Rep. John Thune, R-SD, who is challenging Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-SD, in November. The second was for Larry Diedrich, R-SD, who is running in a special election to fill the state’s single House seat, left vacant by the retirement of Rep. Bill Janklow, R-SD.

In addition to personal contributions, AED’s South Dakota members, led by local group president Mike Sheehan of Sheehan Mack Sales & Equipment, Sioux Falls, SD, delivered AED PAC checks for $1,500 to each candidate.

Other ImPACt 2004 events will take place in Ohio on May 10 and in Utah on August 23.

For more information, call 703/739-9513 or visit www.aednet.org.

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