NRA Weakened by Change in Congress: Common Sense Prevails at the Polls

Supporters of common sense gun laws won races from coast-to-coast as more than 95% of candidates endorsed by the Brady Campaign were victorious, winning 80% of the races when a Brady-endorsed candidate went head-to-head with an NRA-backed candidate.

Click here to view the national list of endorsed candidates and victories.

In the U.S. House, 109 NRA-backed candidates (endorsed or "A" rated) lost their races. In the Senate, out of 26 U.S. Senate races where the NRA either endorsed or gave a candidate an A rating, 18 NRA-backed candidates lost, including five of their top six races where the NRA spent more than $1.6 million.

Brady-endorsed candidates beat NRA-backed candidates in five out of five races for Governor and four out of four races for the U.S. Senate.

Contrary to what the NRA would like the American public to believe, supporting common sense gun violence prevention measures helped elect candidates at the state and federal levels across the country, and the Brady Campaign is not aware of any races where our support caused a candidate to lose.

After his victory for the U.S. House of Representatives in Pennsylvania's 7th District, Joe Sestak said, "The support of the Brady Campaign — and all of their grassroots members — was a great help in my victory. I look forward to providing leadership in Congress to protect our children, and to strengthen and enforce our nation's gun safety laws."

Many winning candidates singled out the Brady Campaign and its members and supporters for thanks. Read some of the testimonials we have received.

Supporters of common sense gun laws in the Senate, like Dianne Feinstein, Hillary Clinton, Edward Kennedy, Robert Menendez, Deborah Stabenow, Maria Cantwell, Bill Nelson, and Richard Lugar were reelected handily. And new Senators like Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota are expected to be supportive of common sense efforts to prevent gun violence and crack down on the illegal gun market.

Brady-backed candidates also did well at the state and local level: three Governors who the NRA wanted desperately to defeat, Governors Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, and Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, all won reelection. And the NRA sneaked in a late endorsement to Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich, who was then defeated by Martin O'Malley. In Massachusetts, Brady-endorsed Deval Patrick beat the NRA-backed candidate for Governor.

You can view some political ads from races where the gun issue was front and center.

The gun lobby's spin operation in the wake of its sizable defeats earlier this month is truly unbelievable. The NRA spent over $1.7 million (80% of their independent expenditures) on losing campaigns this year. In the races where they spent money, the NRA's success rate in the U.S. Senate was only 25% and less than 50% in the U.S. House.

Since they can't win the numbers game, the gun lobby and its pundits turn to labeling some of the new winners as "pro-gun Democrats." If they want to say that the victories of Jim Webb in Virginia and Bob Casey in Pennsylvania are good for the gun lobby, why did the NRA spend $516,000 trying to defeat candidates these candidates?

And even the use of labels like "pro-gun Democrats" to describe candidates like Jim Webb, falls back into one of the good-bad traps of political discourse the gun lobby pundits criticize. Concerns for gun violence prevention and public safety should not be categorized as pro-gun versus anti-gun.

What's "anti-gun" about wanting Brady background checks to make sure that those with criminal records aren't buying guns illegally? What's "anti-gun" about restricting bulk sales of handguns, a sure sign that someone wants to sell those guns illegally on the secondary market?

Why isn't it "pro-gun" to want to crack down on the 1% of gun dealers who sell 57% of the guns that end up being used illegally; or to support more financing for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives?

When a candidate says he wants to enforce "the gun laws on the books," why don't we see that as being opposed to the gun lobby's efforts to weaken "the laws on the books"?

And stay tuned: Stung by their losses, we can surely expect that the NRA will try some last minute maneuvering during their lame duck session to try and pass their legislation before their power is severely weakened.

With your help, we have held them off so far this year, and with our victories this month, we plan to continue the fight. Thanks to every member and supporter for their grassroots efforts in these elections. Your work truly made a difference.