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Everytown Sets Sights on Texas State House, Announcing New Polling, Digital Ads and Endorsements

7.23.2020

Gun Violence Prevention is One of The Most Persuasive Attacks On Republicans in Battleground Districts, New Poll Shows

New Digital Ads Slam Republicans in the Statehouse for Inaction on Gun Safety in the Year Since the Shooting in El Paso
 
NEW YORK — Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund today released battleground polling, endorsements, and a new digital ad, “Weakened Gun Laws,” slamming Republicans in the state House for weakening Texas gun laws. Part of Gun Sense Majority: Texas, an initiative to elect gun sense candidates up and down the ballot, the announcements come nearly a year after the shootings in El Paso and Midland-Odessa. 

“The Republican-controlled Texas legislature failed to act on gun safety for years, and it’s clear from our polling that those decisions have cost them the support of voters,” said Charlie Kelly, senior political adviser for Everytown for Gun Safety. “Everytown and Moms Demand Action aren’t just going to support gun sense candidates for the Texas House, we’re going to be a difference-maker in these races.” 

“So much has changed in the year since the shooting in El Paso — but Texans’ support for stronger gun laws has remained constant, even in the midst of a global pandemic,” said Gaby Diaz, volunteer with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We’ve put in the work to meet with our state representatives and urge them to protect our families with common-sense gun laws, and they refused to listen. Now, we’re going to work to elect representatives who will.” 

New polling conducted by Schoen Consulting of voters in the Dallas and Houston areas affirms that gun safety is a winning issue for battleground voters. Highlights include:

  • 79% of voters in Dallas-area battleground districts and 76% of voters in Houston-area battleground districts say a candidate’s position on gun violence prevention is important to their vote for the Texas State House. 
  • Gun violence prevention is one of the most persuasive attacks on Republicans in battleground districts; messaging about Republican legislators standing in the way of gun safety rank on par with hits focused on other core issues such as cutting education funding, opposing women’s reproductive rights, and failing to protect people with pre-existing conditions.

VIEW THE AD, “WEAKENED GUN LAWS,” HERE.

The ad text reads:

Voters demanded the Republican-controlled TX legislature act on gun safety

But Republican lawmakers in the pocket of the gun lobby WEAKENED gun laws instead 

Pledge to vote out lawmakers who oppose gun safety.

A sample Facebook post headline accompanying the ad will read:

Republicans In The TX Legislature Have Failed Us On Gun Safety

The ads will click through to a landing page, which asks Texans to sign a pledge to vote with gun safety in mind.

Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund also endorsed 26 candidates for Texas State House, including:  

  • Representative Erin Zwiener, District 45
  • Representative Vikki Goodwin, District 47
  • Representative James Talarico, District 52
  • Representative Ana-Maria Ramos, District 102
  • Representative Terry Meza, District 105
  • Representative Victoria Neave, District 107
  • Representative Rhetta Bowers, District 113
  • Representative Julie Johnson, District 115
  • Representative Gina Calanni, District 132
  • Representative Jon Rosenthal, District 135
  • L. Sarah DeMerchant, District 26
  • Keke Williams, District 54
  • Angela Brewer, District 64
  • Sharon Hirsch, District 66
  • Lorenzo Sanchez, District 67
  • Jeff Whitfield, District 92
  • Lydia Bean, District 93
  • Alisa Simmons, District 94
  • Joe Drago, District 96
  • Elizabeth Beck, District 97
  • Joanna Cattanach, District 108
  • Brandy Chambers, District 112
  • Celina Montoya, District 121
  • Natali Hurtado, District 126
  • Ann Johnson, District 134
  • Akilah Bacy, District 138 

 In February, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Victory Fund announced “Gun Sense Majority: Texas” — an unprecedented financial and grassroots effort aimed at flipping the State House to a gun sense majority, defending recently elected Texas gun sense champions in the U.S. House, flipping key congressional seats in the suburbs, and growing and educating the voting electorate in order to make Texas even more competitive at the statewide level.