NEW YORK — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund announced a new round of endorsements for Moms Demand Action volunteers running for office across the country. The volunteers endorsed today represent the growing power of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers as candidates for office themselves as part of Everytown’s Demand A Seat program. Today’s endorsements are the fourth set of volunteer endorsements this year. Earlier endorsements can be found here.
“Moms Demand Action volunteers have a proven track record of fighting tooth and nail to keep their communities safe, so it’s no surprise they’re running strong campaigns in red, blue and purple states,” said John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety. “It’s a testament to the growing power of the gun safety movement that more and more Moms Demand Action volunteers are making the leap from advocating for gun safety laws to actually writing them.”
“I’m so proud to witness an incredible number of Moms Demand Action volunteers donning their superhero capes and stepping into the political arena,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “These candidates continue to prove that communities are fed up with politicians who have failed to act on lifesaving legislation. We can’t wait to get these grassroots leaders elected to office, where they’ll champion the gun safety policies that we know the American people want.”
The full list of newly endorsed candidates and the office they are running for is available below:
- Arkansas
- Anna Strong, Little Rock Board of Education, Zone 5
- Colorado
- Juan Marcano, Mayor of Aurora
- Alison Coombs, Aurora City Council, At-large
- Heidi Henkel, Broomfield City Council, Ward 5
- Dr. Thomas Mayes, Aurora City Council, At-large
- Connecticut
- Dr. Erin Barthel, Avon Town Council
- Idaho:
- Jimmy Hallyburton, Boise City Council
- Michigan
- Rachel Blair, East Grand Rapids City Commission, Ward 3
- Minnesota
- Cheryl Barry, Edina School Board
- New Hampshire
- Zandra Rice Hawkins, Concord City Council, Ward 10
- Ohio
- Janet Garrett, Oberlin Board of Education
- Virginia
- Lindsey Dougherty, Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, Bermuda District
- Washington
- Doris McConnell, Shoreline City Council, Position 4
- Leah Perkel, Vancouver City Council, Position 6
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. More than 275 volunteers and gun violence survivors ran in the 2021-22 election cycle and 158 won their races. More information on Demand a Seat can be found here.