As polls begin to close, it’s already clear that 2018 has been a watershed moment for gun safety — and Everytown led the way. Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America have sought to redraw the political map by electing gun sense candidates across the country — in the halls of Congress and in statehouses, Governors’ and Attorneys General offices.
Here’s an overview of our political work this cycle and why it mattered:
We invested strategically where it counted, spending $30 million in an effort to elect members of Congress, governors, attorneys general and state legislators who will pass and enforce gun safety laws that most Americans want.
- We spent more than $8 million in 16 of the the most important Congressional races in the country, including CA-48, CA-49, CO-06, FL-27, GA-06, KS-03, MN-03, NV-03, NV-04, MI-08, MI-11, MO-02, NJ-03, NJ-11, VA-10 and WA-08.
- Our strategy focused heavily on bringing in new voters, registering more than 100,000 new voters — most of them young people — in concert with partners. We also invested in cutting edge digital advertising — Not One More, the “largest digital investment every made by a…non-profit to win the House” — to specifically target more than 10.3 million voters such as women, people of color and young people, who care deeply about gun safety but do not traditionally turn out in midterm elections. The focus on digital advertising helped precisely mobilize these voting groups.
- In 10 state races, we spent more than $20 million to loosen the NRA’s grip on states including Colorado, Nevada and Florida — places that will be critical in the 2020 Presidential Election
- We threw our full endorsement weight behind 196 key gun safety candidates.
- In a first-time effort, we created the Moms Demand Gun Sense Candidate distinction, a program that recognized more than 3,000 candidates in 48 states who pledged to govern with gun safety in mind if elected.
- Volunteers with Everytown and Moms Demand Action were our secret sauce – having more than 1.2 million conversations with voters.
We focused on the real obstacle to strong gun safety laws: The NRA, its dangerous agenda and its extreme candidates.
- A national pre-election poll revealed that the “intensity gap” has flipped
– By a two-to-one margin, voters preferred candidates who do not take gun lobby money.
– There were twice as many single-issue gun safety voters as single issue NRA voters.
- And we went into areas where the NRA has been an obstacle to progress (Nevada) or has dominated politics (Florida).
We built for today – and tomorrow. As we crafted our political strategy this cycle, we weren’t just looking to election results tonight and tomorrow. We were looking to Nov. 4, 2020, and beyond.
- Everytown’s investments this cycle in traditional presidential swing states, like Florida and Nevada, will ensure that presidential candidates cannot ignore gun safety in these states.
- And the outcome of governors’ races in Nevada, Colorado and Florida will ensure that these leaders play a critical role in redistricting as political maps are redrawn starting in 2021.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out for more information about our 2018 electoral strategy.