NEW YORK — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund released its latest round of endorsements of Moms Demand Action volunteers running for office across the country — underscoring the growing power of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers as candidates for office themselves.
“Moms Demand Action volunteers have a long track record of fighting tooth and nail to keep their communities safe, so it’s no surprise that candidates who began as volunteers are now running for office,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “When social movements start electing their own, you know they’ve become a major political force — and that’s certainly true for the gun safety movement.”
“These volunteers-turned-candidates are driven by their hope for a safer future, refusing to accept this preventable, deadly crisis as the norm. That in itself is incredibly powerful,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “Our movement is continuing to build strength up and down the ballot, and we couldn’t be prouder of these leaders for taking the next step in their advocacy.”
The full list of candidates endorsed today and the office they are running for is available below:
- Colorado
- Cathy Kipp, State Senator, District 14
- Judith Amabile, State Senator, District 18
- Meg Froelich, State Representative, District 03
- Jennifer Parenti, State Representative, District 19
- Kyra deGruy Kennedy, State Representative, District 30
- Yara Zokaie, State Representative, District 52
- Eliza Hamrick, State Representative, District 61
- Rhonda Fields, Arapahoe County Commission, District 5
- Iowa
- Sarah Trone Garriott, State Senator, District 14
- Claire Celsi, State Senator, District 16
- Cynthia Paschen, State Senator, District 28
- Art Staed, State Senator, District 40
- Jennifer Konfrst, State Representative, District 32
- Rod Sullivan, Johnson County Board of Supervisors
- Indiana
- Jody Madeira, Monroe County Commission, District 3
- Maine
- Poppy Arford, State Representative, District 101
- Alisa Conroy Morton, Falmouth Town Council
- Montana
- Jennifer Allen, State Representative, District 11
- Ed Stafman, State Representative, District 59
- Nebraska
- Allison Heimes, State Senator, District 39
- Nevada
- Sandra Jauregui, State Representative, District 41
- New Jersey
- Benjamin Weisman, Boonton Township Council, Ward 4
- Kathleen Dolan, New Providence Borough Council
- Nadine Stern, Pennington Borough Council
- Teska Frisby, Trenton City Council, West Ward
- New Mexico
- Harold Pope Jr., State Senator, District 23
- Vicky Estrada-Bustillo, State Representative, District 31
- New York
- Kim Keiserman, State Senator, District 07
- Minita Sanghvi, State Senator, District 44
- Dustin Reidy, State Representative, District 109
- Chrissy Knapp, Orangetown Town Council
- North Dakota
- Karla Rose Hanson, State Representative, District 44
- Oklahoma
- David Pilchman, State Senator, District 46
- South Carolina
- Matt Vilardebo, State Representative, District 26
- John MacCarthy, State Representative, District 27
- South Dakota
- Sheryl Johnson, US Representative, SD-01
- Utah
- Dawn Stevenson, State Representative, District 27
- Virginia
- Sarah Bagley, Alexandria City Council
Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund launched “Demand a Seat,” a program to train grassroots volunteers and gun violence survivors to take the next step in their advocacy efforts by running for office and working on campaigns to elect gun sense candidates in 2021. Since 2017, hundreds of Moms Demand Action volunteer leaders have run for elected office and dozens have won seats – from town council and school board to U.S. Congress. In 2023, 162 volunteers ran for office and 96 won their races. More information on Demand a Seat can be found here.
