Everytown Adds Seasoned Veterans of Texas Politics to “Gun Sense Majority: Texas” Team

Everytown for Gun Safety Hires Jenna Royal as Texas Political Director; James Aldrete and Adrian Saenz as Special Advisers on Texas and Spanish-language Media

In February, Everytown Announced Gun Sense Majority: Texas, an Unprecedented $8 Million Effort to Elect Gun Sense Candidates Up and Down the Ballot 

AUSTIN — Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund today announced the addition of three seasoned veterans of Texas politics to its Gun Sense Majority: Texas initiative. Jenna Royal, a former Moms Demand Action volunteer, will serve as Texas Political Director, and James Aldrete and Adrian Saenz will serve as Special Advisors on Texas and Spanish-language Media. 

“James, Jenna, and Adrian are world class operatives with some of the sharpest minds in Texas politics,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Their guidance will help us elect gun sense candidates in November — a step that is critical to ending the crisis of gun violence in Texas.” 

“We’ve long worked alongside Texas candidates with the courage to speak out against senseless gun violence,” said James Aldrete, special advisor on Texas and Spanish-language media at Everytown for Gun Safety. “Whether racially motivated like the shooting in El Paso, or targeted at our schools and places of worship, gun violence has no place in the state of Texas.” 

“Texans are action-oriented, and now more than ever, we’re looking out for each other’s safety,” said Adrian Saenz, special advisor on Texas and Spanish-language media at Everytown for Gun Safety. “We’re excited to team up with Everytown to help amplify these critical public debates.”

“I’m excited to join forces with Everytown to make Texas the gun sense majority state that Texans want it to be,” said Jenna Royal, Texas Political Director. “As a resident of the district that the El Paso shooter called home, I know first hand how much our leaders can affect our communities. I’m proud to be a part of the Everytown and Moms Demand Action movement to bring responsible gun sense leadership to Texas.”

With decades of experience in Texas politics, James Aldrete is a battle-tested communications consultant and expert in Spanish-language media and Hispanic voter outreach. Aldrete focused on Hispanic media and engagement while a member of the Obama Media team in 2008 and 2012, and played a similar role for Hillary for America in 2016. He is the founder of Texas-based Message, Audience, & Presentation, Inc. 

A veteran of the DCCC and several Texas Congressional offices, and a strategist for the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee in the 2018 cycle, Adrian Saenz’ wealth of experience will aid Everytown’s efforts to elect gun sense candidates at the state and federal level. Saenz, the founder of Mosaic Media Strategy Group, also previously served as the National Latino Vote Director for the Obama-Biden campaign and as a Senior Advisor to President Obama in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

As a former Moms Demand Action volunteer and experienced grassroots organizer, Jenna Royal has deep relationships in target districts and a long-standing commitment to gun violence prevention. Royal was a leader in the Flip the Texas House initiative, which focused on voter registration and the creation of grassroots organizing infrastructure in target districts in Texas with the goal of flipping the Texas State House.

Vast majorities of Texas voters statewide and in battleground districts — including undecided voters, gun owners, Latino voters and suburban women — support individual gun safety measures, including blocking domestic abusers from having guns, requiring background checks on all gun sales, and red flag laws. Royal, Aldrete, and Adrian Saenz will help Everytown with Moms Demand Action volunteers turn that support into votes up and down the ballot in 2020. 

In February, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund announced “Gun Sense Majority: Texas” — an unprecedented financial and grassroots effort aimed at electing a gun sense majority to the state House, defending recently elected Texas gun sense champions in the U.S. House, flipping key congressional seats in the suburbs, and growing and educating the voting electorate in order to make Texas competitive at the statewide level.