John—
A red wave happened this election—but not the one that many people expected.
Instead, it was our army of volunteers in our signature red Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action shirts working to change the tide and win victories for gun safety across the country.
You powered successful campaigns to put leaders in office that will work to end the gun violence crisis.
And in many cases, you are those newly-elected leaders.
In Minnesota, six Moms Demand Action volunteers won their elections, flipping the state senate. Among them are people like Erin Maye Quade, a former Minnesota state representative and Moms Demand Action volunteer who will represent District 56 as one of the first Black women and one of the first LGBTQ+ women ever elected to be a Minnesota state senator.
In Rhode Island, seven of eight volunteers who ran for office won. They include Jennifer Boylan, who for nearly a decade has dedicated countless hours as a Moms Demand Action volunteer, working to pass strong gun laws in her state. Now, she'll lead on this issue as the Rhode Island state representative for District 66.
In Indiana, Moms Demand Action volunteer Andrea Hunley was elected to District 46 in the state senate, becoming the only Democrat Freshman Senator in the statehouse, and the first Black person to ever represent her district. A teacher and a principal, we know she will fight to keep children and communities safe. And in Kansas City, Jamie Johnson won her race to represent District 12 in the Missouri House of Representatives, flipping the seat and becoming the first Black woman to ever be elected to the state legislature from Platte County.
These incredible members of our movement are only a fraction of the more than 125 of our volunteers who ran and won in elections this year—and results are still coming in.
It's clear we made a huge difference, and as I've watched returns come in this week, I haven't been nervous at all. That's because in the 15 states I campaigned in during the last two months, I saw firsthand the impact all of you were making. At every campaign stop, candidates took me aside to tell me how our volunteers were literally powering their campaigns.
You went all out in these races, and it paid off. But we have one more race to go.
Our Gun Sense Majority in the U.S. Senate is still at stake, and U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock's election in Georgia is going to a runoff on December 6. If we're going to keep passing historic gun safety legislation in Congress, we need to make sure we win this last election of 2022.
Sign up to help get out the vote for gun safety in this crucial runoff for Georgia's seat in the U.S. Senate. We can't let the gun lobby regain control of Congress.
This election cycle has been challenging, but we have never failed to rise to the occasion.
Thank you for all of the work you have done. I'm so honored to be in this fight with you. You are a group of people who believe things can change—even when up against a well-funded, powerful adversary and in an often difficult political landscape.
Together, I know that we will continue to win and lose forward, and we will keep our hope. This work is a marathon, not a sprint—and hope is what fuels us.
We've shown the country our power. Now, let's show them one more time.
Thank you for being a part of this movement.
Shannon Watts
She/Her/Hers
Founder, Moms Demand Action
