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Nearly All Minnesota Candidates Endorsed By Everytown For Gun Safety Win In Midterm Elections

11.5.2014

(MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA)— In races across Minnesota yesterday, voters re-elected all but one of Everytown for Gun Safety’s endorsed Gun Sense Champions, including U.S. Senator Al Franken, U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, Governor Mark Dayton, and five state representatives. This year, the state legislature passed common-sense legislation supported by 80 percent of Minnesotans that keeps guns out of the hands of convicted stalkers and domestic abusers. All endorsed state representatives voted for the bill, which was signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton in May.

“This Election Day, Moms turned out to support Minnesota’s Gun Sense Champions, whose leadership helped protect victims of domestic violence from the terror of an abusive partner with a deadly weapon,” said Leah Auckenthaler, a volunteer with the Minnesota chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Minnesotans know that support for the Second Amendment goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, stalkers, and other dangerous people. Our families and communities are safer because of their leadership, and we invested to make sure they were re-elected.”

“Minnesota’s Gun Sense Champions didn’t wait until the next tragedy to take action to protect their constituents from gun violence,” said Sami Rahamim, son of Reuven Rahamim, who was killed in the 2012 Accent Signage shooting in Minneapolis. “This election, survivors stood behind our elected leaders who voted to protect Minnesota families from the pain of having a loved one’s life cut short by a gun in the wrong hands.”

Everytown strategically invested in direct mail and paid advertising to identify Gun Sense Voters and turn them out to vote. Moms Demand Action, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, launched an unprecedented effort to educate and mobilize gun sense voters in Minnesota to support Everytown’s endorsed candidates. In total, Everytown and Moms Demand Action made more than 48,500 contacts to Minnesota voters.