Everytown Spent $500,000 in Sheriff Elections This Year, Successfully Ousting Gun Lobby-Backed Sheriff Tom Hodgson
Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers Made Over Six Million Voter Contacts to Support Gun Sense Candidates Across the Country
BRISTOL COUNTY, Mass. — Everytown for Gun Safety Massachusetts IE PAC and Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, declared a major victory today as voters rejected gun lobby-backed Sheriff Tom Hodgson and elected Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux as Bristol County Sheriff.
“When it comes to saving lives, passing gun safety laws is just the first step — we also need to make sure they’re enforced, and Paul Heroux will do exactly that,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Everytown was proud to support Heroux’s campaign, and stand ready to help him keep Bristol County residents safe from gun violence.”
“Throughout his career in public service, Paul Heroux has shown a real commitment to common-sense gun safety measures that help keep both communities and law enforcement safe,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “We look forward to working with Sheriff-elect Heroux to break the cycle of violence and protect our communities and our families.”
“Sheriffs are elected to protect our communities – Tom Hodgson was an extremist who put the gun lobby’s guns everywhere agenda ahead of public safety,” said Ilyse Levine-Kanji, a volunteer with the Massachusetts chapter of Moms Demand Action whose mentor, Jack Berman, was one of eight people killed at a mass shooting at a workplace in San Francisco in 1993. “Paul Heroux is the law enforcement leader Bristol County deserves who we know will fight for our safety in office. We’ll have his back as he works to protect our communities from gun violence.”
Building on Everytown’s first major investment in sheriffs elections as part of a pilot program last year in Erie County, PA, Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund and Everytown for Gun Safety Massachusetts IE PAC this year expanded its efforts to run a $500,000 sheriff election engagement program focused on two races where there were clear contrasts on gun safety, including in Bristol County. Sheriff Tom Hodgson’s record of extremism, time as a board member of a group founded by a white supremacist, and participation in another group founded by a far-right militia member made him unfit for office. More information is available here.
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