Results Mark a Defeat for the NRA, Which Endorsed Lujan Grisham’s Opponent
Governor-Elect Lujan Grisham Embraced Gun Safety as a Core Campaign Issue; New Mexico Moms Demand Action Volunteers Canvassed and Phonebanked in Support of her Candidacy
SANTA FE, N.M. – Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and the New Mexico chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown, today declared victory in electing gun sense champion Michelle Lujan Grisham as governor. Lujan Grisham’s platform included support for common-sense gun safety measures in the Land of Enchantment as she beat her NRA-endorsed opponent, Steve Pearce. Lujan Grisham has consistently voted for gun safety during her tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Moms Demand Action volunteers and gun violence survivors knocked doors and phonebanked for Lujan Grisham and other gun sense candidates across New Mexico. Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund contributed more than $250,000 in support of Lujan Grisham’s candidacy.
“In Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexicans have elected a proven gun sense champion who will push for laws to keep them safe,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Her victory makes it clear that the people of New Mexico are fed up with the NRA’s extreme rhetoric and dangerous agenda.”
“Today, New Mexicans stood up for gun safety, proving once again that we’re ready for leaders who will take action to protect our families,” said Cheryl Haase, a volunteer leader with the New Mexico chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “This has been a pivotal year for gun safety, and next year, Moms Demand Action volunteers will focus our efforts on ensuring leaders in the statehouse move forward on legislation to close the background check loophole in current law that allows dangerous people to obtain a gun with no background check, no questions asked. The safety of our families and communities depends on it.”
“My fellow New Mexicans stood up for gun violence survivors by electing gun sense champion Michelle Lujan Grisham to the highest office in the state,” said Robin Brule, a member of the Everytown Survivor Network, whose mother, a retired teacher and a grandmother of eight, and her friend, were shot and killed in February 2016. “I’m proud to be a part of this movement, and I am proud of my state for electing Michelle Lujan Grisham – an important step in ensuring New Mexico enacts laws to keep guns out of the hands of people with dangerous histories.”
Moms Demand Action volunteers in New Mexico are all-in on working with Michelle Lujan Grisham and the new New Mexico legislature to pass legislation to close the loophole that allows people with dangerous histories to obtain guns without a background check. The New Mexico legislature came close to passing legislation that would have closed the background check loophole in 2017, and Lujan Grisham’s victory gives the effort new momentum.
In addition to Michelle Lujan Grisham, Everytown-endorsed candidate Sen. Martin Heinrich won his race for U.S. Senate.
Leading up to the midterm election, Everytown and Moms Demand Action volunteers in New Mexico had more than 2,200 conversations at doors and 17,000 conversations during phone calls for gun sense candidates.