Activity on net neutrality has been on the back burner somewhat since the House failed to pass legislation prior to its mid-term election break last month, but 95 congressional hopefuls on Thursday pledged to support net neutrality should they be elected.

Activity on net neutrality has been on the back burner somewhat since the House on the topic prior to its mid-term election break last month, but 95 congressional hopefuls on Thursday pledged to support net neutrality should they be elected.

The Democratic candidates, led by New Hampshire House hopeful Ann Kuster, have launched netneutralityprotectors.com, an online petition and fundraising effort that pledges to stand up "against any attempt by big corporations to control the Internet and eliminate the Internet's level playing field." The candidates are running for House and Senate positions in 34 states.

The effort is backed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a group working to "elect bold progressive candidates."

"This is the first time ever that congressional candidates have joined together to make net neutrality an election issue," Jason Rosenbaum, the senior online campaigns director at PCCC, said in a statement.

On the site, the candidates state that the "open Internet is a vital engine for free speech, economic opportunity, and civic participation in the 21st century. In Congress, I'll fight to protect net neutrality for the entire Internet - wired and wireless - and make sure big corporations aren't allowed to take control of free speech online," they said.

Whether or not net neutrality is a big enough issue to sway voters remains to be seen. Those who actually make it to Congress will likely join their fellow members for an uphill battle.

At the end of September, House Energy & Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman tabled net neutrality legislation after he failed to secure the support of the committee's top Republican. Though Democrats have the majority, Waxman said he would only introduce compromise net neutrality legislation if he got the backing of ranking members Joe Barton and Cliff Stearns. When Barton backed out, the legislation stalled.

The Federal Communications Commission is also addressing net neutrality, but the agency's authority to regulate the Internet was called into question recently after a court found that the to hand down a 2008 network management enforcement action against Comcast.

In August, Verizon and Google that would impose net neutrality principles on the Web, but exempt the wireless industry, as well as other "additional" service that broadband providers might embark upon in the future, like telemedicine. In the wake of that proposal, the on the exemption for wireless and other "specialized" services; effectively further delaying a rulemaking process that .

The first round of comments were due to the FCC earlier this month, and stakeholders have until mid-November to issue reply comments, so action on the issue is not likely to occur until at least December, but probably not until 2011.