Candidates Endorsed Today are Proven Gun Sense Champions Who Will Fight for Common-Sense Gun Safety Measures in Pennsylvania
NEW YORK – Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund endorsed a slate of gun sense champions who will fight for gun safety in the Pennsylvania state legislature. Each of these candidates received the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate Distinction, a prerequisite for being considered for endorsement.
“This year, Republican leadership in the Pennsylvania statehouse chose to push aside much-needed gun safety legislation, even though polls show that Pennsylvanians favor stronger gun laws by a nine-to-one margin,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “In November, the choice will lie with voters, and Everytown is going all-out to help them flip the legislature and send a gun sense majority to Harrisburg.”
“Time’s up for the lawmakers who have continued to put partisan politics over people’s lives,” said Katie Leslie,a volunteer leader with the Pennsylvania chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Volunteers in every corner of the Commonwealth will be out knocking on doors and making calls to flip both chambers to gun sense majorities.We’re fed up with the continued inaction by Republican leadership in Harrisburg, and these candidates have shown us they’re ready to change.”
Governor Wolf has pushed for strong gun safety legislation like an extreme risk protection law and background checks, but Republican leadership and its majority have refused to take them up. Republicans currently hold a nine seat majority in the Pennsylvania state House and a four seat majority in the state Senate. In order to elect gun sense majorities in both chambers, Everytown Victory Fund will target districts across the Commonwealth, from western portions of Pennsylvania, to the capitol region, to northeast Pennsylvania, including suburban seats around Pittsburgh, and southeast Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley.
Last month, Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund (“Everytown Victory Fund”) announced that it will spend at least $1 million between now and November 3 to flip both chambers of the Pennsylvania legislature to a gun sense majority and unveiled a new digital ad slamming Republican leadership for their inaction. Read more here.
State House endorsements include:
- Richard Ruggieri, District 13
- Harold Hayes, District 18
- Paul Friel, District 26
- Emily Skopov, District 28
- Lissa Geiger Shulman, District 30
- Michele Knoll, District 44
- Brittney Rodas, District 105
- Lindsay Drew, District 106
- Gary Spillane, District 144
- Jill Dennin, District 147
- Nancy Guenst, District 152
- Anton Andrew, District 160
- Claudette Williams, District 176
- Adam Rodriguez, District 189
State Senate endorsements include:
- State Senator Judy Schwank, District 11
- State Senator Pam Iovino, District 37
- Janet Diaz, District 13
- George Scott, District 15
- State Representative Carolyn Comitta, District 19
- Shanna Danielson, District 31
- Julie Slomski, District 49
In February, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund conducted polling in Pennsylvania, which found that voters in Pennsylvania support stronger gun laws by a 9:1 margin. Additionally, 78% of voters consider a candidate’s position on guns “very important” to their vote in 2020. National polling released in June found that the intensity of Americans’ support for common-sense gun safety measures had surged during the coronavirus pandemic, with a significant majority of Americans viewing background checks on all gun sales and disarming domestic abusers “more important” now than before the pandemic began.
Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Victory Fund plan to spend $60 million on the 2020 elections — double what they spent during the 2018 elections, and more than any gun safety opponent, including the NRA, reported spending on the 2016 elections.
