The gun control advocacy group is spending $2.2 million in races for the Texas House this fall, mostly in competitive suburban districts in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Everytown will put out digital ads and direct mail to discourage voters from choosing Republican candidates in 12 seats. Democrats need to win nine state House races in all to take control of the chamber, which would give them influence over future legislation and redistricting.
Everytown鈥檚 target races are Texas House districts 26; 64; 66; 67; 92; 94; 96; 108; 112; 121; 134 and 138. You can .
Charlie Kelly, senior political advisor for Everytown, isn鈥檛 worried the effort may help oust some .
鈥淭he Republican-led state Legislature had plenty of opportunities to take action on gun safety,鈥� he said. 鈥淚nstead, they鈥檝e weakened gun laws across the board, even as Texans have faced four of the nation鈥檚 deadliest mass shootings.鈥�
Those shootings include the 2019 shooting at a Walmart in El Paso and a 2017 shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs.
While some prominent Republicans like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have expressed openness to more background checks, from Gov. Greg Abbott did not include them for all private sales.
According to a University of Texas/Texas Tribune , almost 80% of Texans support background checks for all gun purchases, including almost 70% of Republicans. Currently, person-to-person private sales and gun show purchases do not require background checks.
All of the races on Everytown鈥檚 list are also being targeted by the progressive group Forward Majority, which said it would spend . Kelly said the two groups will coordinate their work in order to diversify the messages people see.
Everytown is also spending heavily to flip control of state legislative chambers in , Iowa, North Carolina, Arizona, Minnesota, and possibly others. The group is spending money to in Texas鈥� 23rd Congressional district, which spans San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley.
The pro-gun rights National Rifle Association has all but one of the Republicans in the races Everytown is targeting. The Dallas Morning News the NRA and the Texas State Rifle Association have given almost $710,000 to Texas politicians and parties since 2000.
While Kelly said Everytown is 鈥渞unning ads on guns in every race,鈥� some ads touch on other issues like immigration and education, which Kelly said motivates and persuades voters.
鈥淵ou can saturate on one message,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e talking about the issues that matter to voters in Texas that are top of mind.鈥�
Got a tip? Email Bret Jaspers at bjaspers@kera.org. You can follow Bret on Twitter .
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