WIN FOR GUN SAFETY AND REJECTION OF MAGA EXTREMIST AGENDA: Everytown for Gun Safety’s $1.5 Million Investment and Moms Demand Action’s Grassroots Army Holds Virginia Senate Majority

Despite Major Investments, Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Republicans Fail to Take Control of Virginia State Senate

WASHINGTON — After Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Republicans failed to take control of the Virginia Senate despite investing millions of dollars, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, and Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund, released the following statements:

“Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Republicans spent millions trying to take over Richmond — but voters soundly rejected their MAGA-inspired ‘guns everywhere’ agenda,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Maintaining a gun sense majority in the Senate is a victory for safer communities in Virginia and further proof that the gun safety movement’s electoral playbook is working as we head into 2024. We look forward to working with Virginia’s gun sense champions to protect — and build on — existing gun safety laws.”

“Virginia voters just blocked Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Republicans’ attempt to wrest control of the State Senate from a gun sense majority, and proved that they won’t tolerate politicians who dismiss the necessity of gun safety,” said Angela Ferrell Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “We’re going to continue fighting for the lawmakers that Virginians deserve – the ones who will take meaningful action to keep communities safe from gun violence.” 

Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund and Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund invested over $1.5 million in the 2023 Virginia elections, launching a paid media campaign highlighting Virginia MAGA Republicans’ opposition to common-sense gun safety laws and showcasing Moms Demand Action volunteers running for office. Everytown’s ads focused on the role of guns in Virginia’s rising rate of violent crime, the importance of keeping schools safe from gun violence, and linking gun violence prevention and abortion rights under a frame of MAGA candidates who are putting the health and safety of Virginians at risk. Everytown also mobilized its grassroots army of hundreds of thousands of Virginia Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action supporters to communicate directly with voters about the stakes on gun safety in this election.

In recent years, Everytown has invested millions in Virginia elections — outspending the NRA by 4:1 in 2019, when the House of Delegates and state Senate both flipped to gun sense majorities for the first time in nearly 25 years. The General Assembly then passed a suite of gun safety reforms, including legislation to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and landmark legislation expanding background checks.