With over 21 million voters having already cast a ballot and just fifteen days remaining until Election Day, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, the grassroots arms of Everytown for Gun Safety, are continuing to hit new outreach milestones in their efforts to get out the vote for gun sense candidates up and down the ballot.
To date, volunteers have sent over 1.3 million text messages and held over 7,700 events, with more than 27,000 individual shifts worked, to help voters create their Voter Action Plan and confirm their support for gun sense candidates. In addition, volunteers are closing in on their goal of completing 1 million calls this cycle, with over 910,000 calls having been completed to date.
Now entering the home stretch, dedicated volunteers across the country are doubling down on outreach efforts. In the past week alone, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers made over 55,000 calls and sent 97,000 text messages.
A RECAP FROM LAST WEEK:
DEMANDING WOMEN 2.0 INSTAGRAM LIVE SERIES
- The Demanding Women Series continued last week with Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, in conversation with six Moms Demand Action volunteers running for office. Conversations included:
- Shanna Danielson (candidate for Pennsylvania State House, District 31)
- Mary Parker (candidate for Colorado State House, District 22)
- Martha Paschke (candidate for Illinois State House District 65)
- Rachel Prusak (candidate for Oregon State House, District 37)
- Andrea Stone (candidate for Oklahoma State Senate, District 47)
- Jasmine Surti (candidate for New Jersey School Board, Lawrence Township)
- Demanding Women 2.0 can be streamed on via Instagram Live @shannonrwatts
NEW ADS & ENDORSEMENTS
- NEW IN IOWA – Direct Mail from Moms Demand Action volunteer
- Everytown Victory Fund unveiled a new direct mail piece in the form of a personal letter penned by Iowa gun owner and essential health care worker, Erica Fletcher, urging voters to oppose Republicans for Iowa State House who oppose common-sense gun safety measures, after yet another year of inaction on gun violence.
- The mailer is part of a $400,000 direct mail campaign in Iowa.
- NEW IN FLORIDA – “CAVED TO THE GUN LOBBY”
- Everytown Victory Fund announced $100,000 in support for new digital ads criticizing Republican candidates for their failure to act on the gun violence crisis that takes more than 2,600 Floridian lives every year.
- The ads are aimed at helping elect gun sense candidates in key Florida Senate districts, including SD 9, SD 20 and SD 39.
- Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund gave $50,000 in direct contributions to the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and $10,000 to the Florida Democratic Party.
- Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund also endorsed six candidates for the Florida Senate, including:
- State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez, District 37
- Loranne Ausley, District 3
- Patricia Sigman, District 9
- Kathy Lewis, District 20
- Shevrin Jones, District 35
- Javier Fernandez, District 39
NOTABLE DAYS OF ACTION
- PENNSYLVANIA
- Volunteers with Pennsylvania Moms Demand Action turned out virtually and across the state to advocate for gun sense candidates up and down the ballot. Volunteers kicked off the Weekend of Action by welcoming Vice President Joe Biden to Philadelphia for his town hall on Thursday.
- Volunteers also joined a socially distanced canvass for Everytown-endorsed candidates Chrissy Houlahan (CD-06) and Emily Skopov (HD-028). Altogether, volunteers dropped literature at hundreds of households for Everytown-endorsed Paul Friel (HD-026), and Gun Sense Candidates Napoleon Nelson (HD-154), Melissa Shusterman (HD-157), and Christina Sappey (HD-158).
- On Sunday, volunteers in every corner of the state joined a virtual phone bank on Sunday, kicked off by special guest Dr. Joseph Sakran, the trauma surgeon and survivor of gun violence behind the #ThisIsOurLane movement in response to callous NRA remarks.
- IOWA
- Volunteers with Iowa of Moms Demand Action held a weekend of action where they made over 1,800 calls to get out the vote in state House districts across the state to flip the Iowa State House to a gun sense majority.
Moms Demand Action Volunteer of the Week:
Maria Swanson is a volunteer leader based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where she is known as a team player who is willing to lend a helpful hand whenever needed. A retired City Manager, Maria plays an active role in the chapter’s Spanish-language outreach efforts, and has helped the Florida Moms Demand Actions chapter to clock over 4,000 volunteer hours for gun sense candidates in the state.
Maria manages a system that allows chapter members to more seamlessly track elections day actions, empowering more Florida volunteers to take more actions, and helps the chapter keep track of it all. She serves as a mentor to many volunteers within the chapter, and spearheaded the Be SMART program locally to raise awareness about secure gun storage, including reaching out to city leaders in Broward county.
If you’re interested in learning more, or speaking with Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action volunteers from around the country, don’t hesitate to reach out.
