Everytown Awards “Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate” Distinctions to Cleveland Mayor Candidates

CLEVELAND – Today, Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, announced that four candidates running for Mayor of Cleveland have been awarded the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction: Justin Bibb, Ross DiBello, Councilman Zack Reed, and Senator Sandra Williams. The candidates are running in the September 14 nonpartisan primary. Voters are able to view a list of candidates by visiting GunSenseVoter.org.

“As Cleveland reels from a year of record gun violence, voters are looking for candidates who will make gun safety a top priority,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “These candidates know that gun violence prevention is a winning issue in Ohio, and that Moms Demand Action volunteers will go all out to elect gun sense champions up and down the ballot.”

“As we award these Gun Sense Candidate distinctions, we’re letting candidates know that if you have our backs, we’ll have yours,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “Over the last few years we’ve helped elect gun sense candidates in Cleveland and across Ohio and Moms Demand Action volunteers won’t stop until there’s a gun sense majority at every level of the ballot.”

The Gun Sense Candidate distinction is a signal to Everytown and Moms Demand Action’s over six million supporters, volunteers, and voters across the country that a candidate will govern with gun safety in mind. The Gun Sense Candidate distinction is not an endorsement from Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, or its volunteer networks Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action. Receiving the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction is a prerequisite for being considered for endorsement.

The Gun Sense Candidate program began in 2018, when the program recognized over 3,000 candidates running for office. In 2020, the program again recognized more than 3,000 candidates, including candidates in 49 states and Washington DC and for offices from President to State Legislature. Of the gun sense candidates who ran during the general election, nearly 60% won their races—resulting in a federal gun sense trifecta between the White House, the U.S. House, and the U.S. Senate. Hundreds of candidates across the country are running for office this year with the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction. 

More on gun violence in Ohio:

• In an average year 1,529 people die by guns in Ohio, and 3,552 people are shot and wounded.  
• Black people in Ohio are 14 times more likely to die by gun homicide than white people. 
• Gun violence costs Ohio $10.9 billion each year, of which $486.5 million is paid by taxpayers. 

Additional statistics about gun violence in Ohio are available here.