Everytown For Gun Safety Endorses First Round of Moms Demand Action VolunteersRunning for Office in 2026

NEW YORK - Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund announced the endorsements of Moms Demand Action volunteers running for office in North Carolina and Texas. These endorsements, the first round for 2026 elections, are a testament to the growing power of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers as candidates for office themselves.

"In a political climate where voters are looking for candidates whose first priority is serving their community, not just themselves, Moms Demand Action volunteers have impeccable credentials," said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. "After years of fighting for common-sense laws to keep guns out of the wrong hands, more and more Moms Demand Action volunteers are making the leap from advocating for laws to writing them."

"There's no better way to launch our 2026 elections work than by endorsing our first round of volunteers-turned-candidates," said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. "The pipeline of gun safety advocates to elected officials is one of our movement's greatest strengths, and we're ready to keep building that power this November."

The full list of candidates endorsed today and the office they are running for is available below:

North Carolina

• Woodson Bradley, State Senator, District 42
• Claire Kempner, State Representative, District 09
• Allison Dahle, State Representative, District 11
• Marcia Morey, State Representative, District 30
• Maria Cervania, State Representative, District 41
• Tracy Clark, State Representative, District 57
• Amanda Cook, State Representative, District 60
• Beth Helfrich, State Representative, District 98
• Judy Justice, New Hanover County Commission

Texas

• Ron Reynolds, State Representative, District 27
• Pooja Sethi, State Representative, District 47
• Suleman Lalani, State Representative, District 76
• Katie O'Brien Duzan, State Representative, District 94
• Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, State Representative, District 115
• Stefanie Bord, State Representative, District 126
• Ann Johnson, State Representative, District 134
• Tyler Smith, State Representative, District 138

In 2021, Everytown Victory Fund launched the Demand a Seat educational program to train grassroots volunteers and gun violence survivors to take the next step in their advocacy efforts by running for office and working on campaigns. Since then, the program has trained more than 1,200 volunteers across 47 states and Washington, D.C. During the 2025 election cycle, 163 former Moms Demand Action volunteers were up for election, and 67% won in 23 states. They join the ranks of the more than 600 volunteers from 42 states who have run and won since the Demand a Seat program was launched. All told, 14 states now have five or more former volunteers serving in the legislature.