Last night, every candidate endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America won his or her race. Across the country, from an incredible sweep in Virginia to city council races in Pennsylvania and state representatives in Washington State, gun safety won.
In Virginia, Governor-elect Ralph Northam, Lieutenant Governor-elect Justin Fairfax, Attorney General Mark Herring and Delegates-elect Chris Hurst and John Bell, all of whom ran on gun safety and won – even in the NRA’s backyard. And exit polls proved that voters in Virginia went to the ballot box thinking about gun safety. The so-called “intensity gap” is no more – Virginians rejected the NRA and their dangerous agenda last night.
This year, Everytown contributed $2.2 million to Northam, Fairfax, Herring, Hurst and Bell. Everytown was one of the top three donors to Northam and Herring, and was tied as the top donor to Fairfax. Volunteers with the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action worked tirelessly to elect them, attending more than 100 election-related events. Moms Demand Action members spent countless hours knocking on doors and calling neighbors and friends about the importance of electing these candidates, all of whom support common-sense gun violence prevention policies. They persevered in spite of the NRA spending more than $2 million on these races.
And in what can only be described as a tough district, Chris Hurst, whose girlfriend, Alison Parker, and her cameraman, Adam Ward, were shot and killed on live television in 2015, won a House of Delegates seat in Virginia’s 12th district – a 24 point swing from 2015.
In New Jersey, gun-sense champions Phil Murphy and Sheila Oliver were elected governor and lieutenant governor. Both were endorsed by the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Moms Demand Action, and volunteers with the New Jersey chapter of Moms Demand Action worked tirelessly to elect them, knocking on doors and calling neighbors and friends about the importance of electing these candidates.
Moms Demand Action volunteers won races in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and in Washington State, Manka Dhingra won the race for State Senate in District 45, flipping the balance of power in Olympia. Moms Demand Action volunteers in Washington State fought hard for Senator-elect Dhingra.
On Tuesday, voters proved that they were willing to vote on the issue of gun safety. And from coast to coast, Americans voted into office gun sense candidates. Make no mistake: Heading into the 2018 midterm elections, the momentum is on the side of the gun violence prevention movement.
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