John, my beautiful daughter Jaime’s life was cut short by gun violence in Parkland. She was just 14 years old and at school, shot by a student with an AR 15 he never should have had access to.

One of my first sources of hope, in the depths of grief that no parent should ever have to bear, was seeing young people– my daughter's classmates and a generation traumatized by gun violence– organize and found the March for Our Lives.

Our elected leaders failed Jaime. Now it is my mission to elect champions like Maxwell with a proven track record of standing up to the gun lobby.

I came to know Maxwell as the National Organizing Director for March for Our Lives when he fought for comprehensive gun violence prevention.

I’ve also gotten to know far too well the grip the NRA has on Congress. And the millions of dollars they will spend to defeat candidates like Maxwell.

In the four years since Jaime’s death, there has been unprecedented support and energy for action against gun violence. Especially from young people.

But far too little has been done to address the crisis. The NRA and the gun lobby continue to block any change.

I know that with your support Maxwell can win and fight for long overdue policies such as universal background checks, red-flag laws, and banning assault weapons.

Maxwell will also work to dismantle our gun culture problem by funding local community violence intervention programs and developing a youth and BIPOC led task force to address the systemic causes of gun violence.

With hope,

Fred Guttenberg