Here Are the 6 Most Niche Lobbying Groups in America

Looking out for America’s snake owners, horse lovers, and prune growers in Washington, DC.


Lobby groups spent more than $3.2 billion trying to sway federal lawmakers and officials last year. Yet like Washington’s solitary UFO lobbyist and fake-meat lobbyist, some would-be influencers are pushing some pretty specific, even obscure, agendas. Here are six of America’s most specialized influence groups:
 

The Balloon Council: “To educate consumers and regulators about the wonders of foil and latex balloons,” it spent $80,000 on lobbying in 2014—not adjusted for inflation, of course.

 

 

Families Conserving Antiques: Three families who own collections of elephant ivory formed this organization in 2014 to lobby against federal bans on the tusk trade.

 

 

US Association of Reptile Keepers: This group of “herp” lovers fighting prohibitions on certain types of pythons has been lying quietly lately—like a snake waiting to strike.

 

 

Dollar Coin Alliance: Switching from greenbacks to coins will save America billions of bucks, according to this group backed by vending-machine and copper-mining companies.

 

 

Victoria McCullough: This oil heiress and equine philanthropist has spent $135,000 spurring lawmakers to keep American horses off foreign dinner plates.

 

 

California Dried Plum Board: Don’t you mean “prune”? Yes—but in 2000, the then-California Prune Board successfully lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to let it use the more female-friendly (really, that’s what it said) “dried plum.”

 

 

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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