May 7 was a visceral day. Maybe you were with us when – in front of 600 gun safety advocates – two1 of our priority bills2 failed to pass in the PA House, each by a margin of just one vote.
On that day, it became abundantly clear to me that in order to win policies to keep our families and communities safer, we need to win the politics as well. So we’ve been working on a plan to make championing gun safety a winning strategy in this fall’s PA House elections. And, I have to tell you, we’ve already raised $150,000 to that end!
That means we will be able to heavily invest in at least two flippable PA House districts and replace legislators who prioritize the gun lobby with true gun safety champions. And the best part is, our success will change the calculus of future elections by forcing legislators to consider how to appeal to gun safety voters, rather than gun extremists.
I know I’m talking a lot about money, but I also want to illustrate how we’re already using it to run a rigorous and transparent endorsement process. We’re still a few weeks away from announcing our picks, but so far we have:
Sent out endorsement questionnaires to candidates across the Commonwealth
Poured through dozens of responses
Conducted interviews
Made a few strategic decisions that we’ll be announcing soon!
