What the gun control movement may lack in popular support outside blue enclaves, it makes up for - or tries to - in pure financial clout.
Former mayor, failed presidential candidate and billionaire Michael Bloomberg has been pumping money into politics, supporting gun-grabber candidates via his "Everytown" checkbook advocacy group, for a long time; in some races, Everytown outspends pro-gun groups by factors of 20 or more to one.
And Everytown and Bloomberg appear to be taking a lesson from the Soros clan, ponying up table stakes in the Attorney General market:
Michael R. Bloomberg’s gun control organization, Everytown for Gun Safety, has announced plans to allocate $10 million in support of Democratic candidates for attorney general across battleground states. Led by Everytown president John Feinblatt, the initiative targets Virginia, Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota, Nevada, and Wisconsin. The funding will aim to strengthen democratic principles amid President Donald Trump’s time in office...
Bloomberg’s previous electoral contributions include a significant $173 million to support Joe Biden in the 2020 general election. His dedication to funding Everytown has marked a renewed focus on significant electoral battles.
Everytown has invested around $5 million since 2017 in efforts to elect Democratic attorneys general. The officials have played a critical role in filing lawsuits against federal actions viewed as overreach.
Say what you will about them - they aren't coy about their intentions, at least when speaking to their blue-state audience and the few non-Bloomberg donors on Everytown's roster:
“Attorneys General have been steadfast partners when it comes to holding the gun industry accountable, and now they’re the tip of the spear in defending our system of checks and balances,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “When laws are considered optional, public safety is at risk — and that’s why Everytown is making sure Attorneys General know we have their back.”
Say what you will about Bloomberg - like fellow New York billionaire Trump, he likes to see results for his "investments":
In the past, Everytown has partnered with the Maryland AG to file a lawsuit against gunmaker Glock for criminal use of their pistols, the Illinois AG to persecute gun dealers and the Hawaii AG to defeat a challenge to strike down the state law that runs afoul of the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce In Arms Act (PLCAA), among other actions.
The group also spent $1 million in the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court election, helping leftwing radical Susan Crawford tip the balance of power in that state’s high court.
One only has to peruse Everytown’s website to see how far left its philosophy is concerning private firearms ownership. The gist: Guns are bad, and so are gun owners. In fact, if you’re white and a gun owner, you’re part of the problem.
While gun control as a whole is a losing bet nationwide, and results in the big races have eluded the group on the grand national scale, Bloomberg spending on congressional races has had its effects around the margins; his donations played a fairly key role in 2018, with troublesome results for Trump's first round of midterms; from 2018:
The result is that Bloomberg’s $80 million is being deployed on behalf of just 16 lucky beneficiaries at the moment; the number will likely grow to a still-select group of 20. The current list includes Hill, who is running for a House seat just north of Los Angeles; Angie Craig, in southern Minneapolis-St. Paul; Jason Crow, vying to represent a district covering eastern Denver; Sharice Davids, in Kansas City, Kansas; Steven Horsford, in Las Vegas; Chrissy Houlahan, of suburban Philadelphia; Mike Levin, who is taking on incumbent Darrell Issa north of San Diego; Elaine Luria, running in a district that covers Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, and part of Norfolk; Dean Phillips, in suburban Minneapolis; Harley Rouda, who is up against incumbent Dana Rohrabacher in Orange County, California; Kim Schrier, running for an open seat outside Seattle; Donna Shalala, in Miami; Elissa Slotkin and Haley Stevens, in southern Michigan and suburban Detroit, respectively; Jennifer Wexton, in northern Virginia; and Mikie Sherrill, in northern New Jersey. Sherrill’s opponent, Republican Jay Webber, is trying to see Bloomberg’s involvement as a backhanded compliment. “It tells you that Mikie’s message hasn’t closed the deal,” Webber says. “She set fund-raising records around here, and she still needs outside help. Mike Bloomberg and Nancy Pelosi are propping up an ideological soul mate, someone who is far to the left of this district.”
Do the count - about 70% of the reps above are still in the House, still rendering services as promised.
The influence that Bloomberg is spreading, along with Soros, via the state attorneys general, is if anything more sinister.
