Both House lawmakers decided to run in 2022 in different districts than they currently represent due to their states’ redrawn congressional maps.
Everytown considers McBath and Newman the “ultimate gun safety champions,” and before they were elected to office, both congresswomen were volunteers with Moms Demand Action, a grassroots arm of Everytown.
“I think it is extraordinarily important for this organization to honor those people who started as volunteer leaders and transformed themselves from people who are advocating for legislation to people who are writing legislation,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown, told CNN.
Everytown had endorsed Casten and Bourdeaux in 2020, spending $1.2 million in partnership with the House majority PAC to back Bourdeaux. The group at the time called Bourdeaux a “committed gun sense candidate” and pointed to Casten’s advocacy for gun measures like background checks.
Asked why Everytown chose McBath and Newman to endorse in the 2022 primaries, Feinblatt said the endorsements were about “recognizing their roots as volunteer leaders with Moms Demand Action — and that’s an important value to this organization.”
The group plans to announce a spending figure for McBath and Newman at a later date.
The two endorsements were the first of the 2022 election cycle for the gun control group that’s funded largely by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Newman, a freshman in Congress, was the spokesperson for Moms Demand Action’s Illinois chapter.
Since last year, Everytown has also been recruiting and training gun violence survivors and volunteers to run for office.
Source : CNN
