Gun control group plans to spend $60M on 2020 elections

Everytown for Gun Safety announced on Monday its plan to spend at least $60 million in the 2020 election, which is nearly double what the National Rifle Association (NRA) spent in 2016.

Billionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, is a co-founder of Everytown and is the organization’s largest donor.

Bloomberg has put gun control at the forefront of his campaign, but Everytown has said it will treat him like any other candidate in terms of endorsements. 

“This massive 2020 effort is fueled by a combination of financial resources, unprecedented grassroots power and a consensus among more than 90 percent of Americans across party lines that we need action now to reduce gun violence,” Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in the press release.

In 2016, the NRA spent $36 million, backing President Trump.

Everytown said it is focused on defeating President Trump, flipping the Senate and defending the House majority as well as engaging on a state level.

It mentioned Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin as states it is working in. 

Everytown spent the most among gun violence prevention groups in the 2018 midterms at $30 million, outspending the NRA. It also spent more than $2.5 million on the Virginia General Assembly elections in 2019.