More than One Hundred Twenty-Five Newly Elected Volunteers Join Growing Ranks of Moms Demand Action Volunteers Elected to Office Since Its Founding in 2012
Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers Made Over Six Million Voter Contacts to Support Gun Sense Candidates Across the Country
NEW YORK – With votes still being counted in many places, more than 125 Moms Demand Action volunteers from across the country won election for office up and down the ballot in this week’s elections, highlighting the political power of Moms Demand Action volunteers as candidates for office themselves.
“We’re so proud to have had a historic number of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers run for office this cycle, showing the strength and power of the gun violence prevention movement,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “These volunteers have already demonstrated their ability to advocate for life-saving gun safety policies in their communities, and we’re eager to support their work now as elected officials.”
“After helping countless gun sense candidates win their races, more and more volunteers are taking matters into their own hands and making the leap to elected office,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “These gun safety volunteers can count on Everytown’s full support as they push for lifesaving laws, just as we’ve counted on their support to build a nationwide movement that is only growing stronger.”
More than 125 Everytown-endorsed Moms Demand Action volunteers won their races. Among the highlights:
- In Minnesota, six Moms Demand Action volunteers – all women – won their elections, flipping the state Senate and delivering a gun sense trifecta. Among them are people like Erin Maye Quade, a former Minnesota state Representative and Moms Demand Action volunteer who will represent District 56 as one of the first Black women and one of the first LGBTQ+ women ever elected to be a Minnesota state senator.
- In Rhode Island, seven of eight volunteers who ran for office won. They include Jennifer Boylan, who for nearly a decade has dedicated countless hours as a Moms Demand Action volunteer, working to pass strong gun laws in her state. Now, she’ll lead on this issue as the Rhode Island State Representative for District 66.
- In Michigan, nine Moms Demand Action volunteers won their elections, flipping the statehouse to a gun sense majority and delivering the first gun sense trifecta in nearly 40 years.
- In Indiana, Moms Demand Action volunteer Andrea Hunley was elected to District 46 in the state Senate, becoming the only Democrat freshman senator in the statehouse, and the first Black person to ever represent her district.
- In Missouri, Jamie Johnson won her race to represent District 12 in the Missouri House of Representatives, flipping the seat and becoming the first Black woman to ever be elected to the state legislature from Platte County.
- In Illinois, volunteer Nabeela Syed, a Muslim, Indian American woman flipped a GOP-held district to become the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly.
- In Iowa, redistricting pitted state Senator, and former Moms Demand Action volunteer, Sarah Trone Garriott against the state’s NRA-backed Republican senate president and she won.
- In Colorado, Tom Sullivan, a survivor and Moms Demand volunteer, won his bid for state Senate and will represent District 27.
Last year, 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. The program invested $3 million in educational training and mentorship opportunities for grassroots volunteers considering campaigns at the local, state, and federal levels. More information on Demand a Seat can be found here.
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.
