A big-name gun control organization with ties to billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg is promising to spend a lot of cash this election cycle.
Everytown on Wednesday announced a $45 million plan to fund voter outreach in the next few months to get 10 million like-minded voters to the polls this November. The group says their effort is aimed to "help elect gun sense candidates and defeat gun extremists up and down the ballot in key swing districts and states."
The states listed by the group as receiving special attention include several seen as traditionally "purple" swing states (Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) as well as some that are more deep blue such as California and New York.
The outlay from the group, which was a rebranding of Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization in 2014, will go towards television and ads on digital platforms. Everytown stresses the paid media campaign "will focus on the threat the MAGA gun extremist agenda poses to the safety of our communities and highlight their opposition to common-sense gun safety laws."
By "common-sense gun safety laws," Everytown has a history of backing bans on common semi-automatic firearms and their standard capacity magazines, controversial "red flag" gun seizure laws, and universal background checks, which Second Amendment groups argue are a precursor to government gun registration schemes.
According to Open Secrets, Everytown's expenditures this campaign cycle have all been either in support of Democrats or against Republicans. Besides Bloomberg, its large donors include philanthropist Pat Stryker's Bohemian Foundation and JJ Abrams' Bad Robot Productions. The group's Victory Fund PAC has raised some $9.6 million so far this cycle while their Demand a Seat PAC has another $8 million.
The $45 million announcement is several times the size of the group's $8 million outlay in TV and digital ads to support the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020. Everytown has whole-heartedly endorsed Harris' current bid to move into the Oval Office, and this week's announcement comes only days after a similar $15 million promise from the Giffords gun control group.
Bloomberg personally pledged $20 million in late June to back Biden's re-election campaign before the 81-year-old sitting president announced he was dropping out of the race. The billionaire former New York mayor and media tycoon was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Biden at a White House ceremony in May.
