New Pre-Election Polling in Arizona Finds That Gun Safety is a Winning Issue in Key Races Across AZ, Where Everytown Spent More Than $3.8 Million

New Poll Found Arizona Voters Overwhelmingly Support Stronger Guns Laws by a 10:1 Margin and That Gun Safety Messaging Deployed by Everytown Has Been Highly Impactful

Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund and Action Fund Invested More Than $3.8 Million in Arizona This Cycle, Targeting U.S. Senate Contest, and state House and Senate Races to Determine Control of the State Legislature

Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers Have Made Nearly 68,000 Calls And Texts to Support Gun Sense Candidates in Arizona

PHOENIX — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Victory Fund (“Everytown”) unveiled new polling of Arizona voters, which found, just days before Election Day, that candidates’ position on gun policy is important in deciding who to vote for and the need for background checks on all gun sales is more important now than it was a year ago. The survey also found that gun safety-themed messaging, deployed by Everytown in its paid advertising campaigns in Arizona, has been highly effective at impacting voters.

Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund and Action Fund have invested more than $3.8 million in Arizona this cycle in order to elect gun sense champions up and down the ballot, including: Vice President Joe Biden; Mark Kelly for U.S. Senate; and gun sense candidates running for the state legislature in an effort to elect gun sense majorities to both chambers of the legislature.

“Gun safety is an issue that touches voters on a personal level, and it can cut through the Trump-created chaos and shape their choices at the ballot box,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “This newest polling gives us a hint of what’s already happening at the polls: Arizona voters turning out in force to reject lawmakers who have blocked progress for so long.”

“Once again the data shows that gun safety is a triple threat – it mobilizes, persuades, and has become a litmus test issue for voters across battleground states,” said Charlie Kelly, senior political advisor for Everytown for Gun Safety. “Our messaging this cycle is effective because people are tired of inaction on gun violence and politicians in the pocket of the gun lobby.”

“These numbers reflect what we already know to be true: gun safety matters to Arizonans,” said Marie Thearle, a volunteer with the Arizona chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Despite how the gun lobby tries to divide us, there’s more of us who support common-sense gun safety then not. ” 

The poll, conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research, surveyed 475 Arizona voters. Findings include: 

• Messaging deployed by Everytown is highly persuasive and effectively improves the horserace for Democrats in races up and down the ballot.
• 85% of likely voters — including 93% of suburban women — say a candidate’s position on gun policy is important in deciding who to vote for;
• By a more than 10:1 margin, Arizona voters believe their state’s gun laws should be made stronger, not less strong;
• 55% of Arizona voters believe the need for background checks on all gun sales is more important now, during the pandemic, than a year ago; 
• 56% of all likely voters say that an endorsement by the NRA makes no difference to their vote or makes them less likely to vote for a candidate who is endorsed by the NRA. 

Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund and Action Fund spent more than $3.8 million in Arizona during this election cycle, including:

Presidential:

• Nearly $800,000 in digital ads in both English and Spanish to support Vice President Joe Biden against President Donald Trump
• By Election Day, Everytown’s digital ads supporting Biden in Arizona will have been seen an estimated 16.2 million times by key voters who will decide Arizona’s 11 Electoral College votes. 

U.S. Senate:

• $750,000 in contributions to Senate Majority PAC to support Mark Kelly against NRA-backed Senator Martha McSally.

State Legislature:

• Nearly $2.1 million to elect gun sense majorities to both chambers of the Arizona General Assembly. As part of this effort, Everytown targeted three Senate races  (LD 6 Senate, LD 17 Senate, LD 20 Senate) and three House races  (LD 6 House, LD 20 House, LD 21 House) with candidate-specific digital and direct mail campaigns. 
• By Election Day, Everytown’s digital ads supporting gun sense candidates for the state legislature will have been seen an estimated 57.2 million times, and its direct mail will have reached 130,000 households.

Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers have also made nearly 68,000 calls and texts to Arizona voters to support gun sense candidates across the state.