Brady Campaign supports Patrick.

No big surprise there. I haven't read or heard anything regarding an official press release endorsing Patrick... they'll probably announce one eventually.


News Release

In Races From Coast To Coast, Gun Issue In Play
For Immediate Release:
11-02-2006

Contact Communications:
(202) 898-0792 Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

Washington, DC - Guns as a political issue are in play in a number of high profile races around the nation. As a way to help analyze how support for gun violence prevention measures helped or hurt in the 2006 elections, the list below shows those races where the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the National Rifle Association have both endorsed candidates. Additional information to help analyze the strength or weakness of gun control in the 2006 elections follows the list.

HEAD-TO-HEADS:
Brady Campaign (listed first) vs. the NRA (listed second) - Endorsed Races

U.S. House

* California 50th - Francine Busby vs. Brian Bilbray
* Colorado 7th - Ed Perlmutter vs. Rick O’Donnell
* Illinois 6th - Tammy Duckworth vs. Pete Roskam
* Illinois 8th - Melissa Bean vs. David McSweeney
* Maryland 3rd - John Sarbanes vs. John White
* North Carolina 13th - Brad Miller vs.Vernon Robinson
* Ohio 13th - Betty Sutton vs. Craig Foltin
* Ohio 15th - Mary Jo Kilroy vs. Deborah Pryce
* Pennsylvania 6th - Lois Murphy vs. Jim Gerlach
* Pennsylvania 7th - Joe Sestak vs. Curt Weldon
* Pennsylvania 8th - Patrick Murphy vs. Mike Fitzpatrick
* Washington 8th - Darcy Burner vs. Dave Reichert

U.S. Senate

* Maryland - Ben Cardin vs. Michael Steele
* Washington - Maria Cantwell vs. Mike McGavick
* Michigan - Debbie Stabenow vs. Mike Bouchard
* Florida - Bill Nelson vs. Katherine Harris

Gubernatorial

* Wisconsin - Jim Doyle vs. Mark Green
* Illinois - Rod Blagojevich vs. Judy Baar Topinka
* Pennsylvania - Ed Rendell vs. Lynn Swann
* Massachusetts - Deval Patrick vs. Kerry Healey

Other State Races

* California Assembly 27: John Laird vs. Michael Morrison
* Colorado House 1: Jeanne Labuda vs. Aimee Rathburn
* Colorado House 41: Nancy Todd vs. Clyde Robinson, Jr.
* Colorado House 53: Randy Fischer vs. Anne Yeldell
* Colorado Senate 16: Joan Fitz-Gerald vs. Marty Neilson
* Illinois House 44: Fred Crespo vs. Terry Parke
* Illinois Senate 27: Peter Gutzmer vs. Matt Murphy
* Maryland Attorney General: Doug Gansler vs. Scott Rolle
* Pennsylvania House 170: Brendan Boyle vs. George Kenney
* Pennsylvania House 161: Bryan Lentz vs. Tom Gannon
* Washington House 49: Jim Moeller vs. Sharon Long
* Washington Senate 48: Luke Esser vs. Rodney Tom

* * *

In addition to the U.S. Senate races where the Brady Campaign and the NRA are endorsing competing candidates, the NRA has invested more than $1 million in some high profile races whose outcomes should be reviewed in analyzing the NRA’s success or failure in this election cycle:

NRA Independent Expenditures in Six U.S. Senate Races
(Beneficiary of funding is listed second)
(Through 10-30-06)

PA - Bob Casey vs. Rick Santorum: $337,000
MO - Claire McCaskill vs. Jim Talent: $379,000
MT - Jon Tester vs. Conrad Burns: $165,000
MN - Amy Klobuchar vs Mark Kennedy: $158,000
VA - Jim Webb vs. George Allen: $85,000
FL - Bill Nelson vs. Katherine Harris: $28,000
Total: $1,152,000

This has been a busy political season for gun violence prevention advocates. By the spring, a number of incumbents and promising challengers had made it clear that they intended to highlight their support for sensible gun laws, moving the issue to Tier One in their races. The issue had a positive impact:

* Ed Perlmutter in Colorado’s Seventh Congressional District believes he won his primary in part because he advocated more common sense in gun laws.
* Massachusetts Gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick also ended up winning his three- candidate primary while aggressively discussing tougher gun laws.
* In Illinois, Governor Rod Blagojevich made a state assault weapons ban his top goal for a second term, and Cook County, Illinois voters will cast votes on a referendum to instruct the State Legislature to pass an assault weapons ban. The referendum is expected to win handily.
* In New York, Andrew Cuomo has made gun violence prevention a central part of his campaign for Attorney General.
* In Maryland, Martin O’Malley has announced he supports a state assault weapons ban, while incumbent Bob Ehrlich continues to oppose a ban.
* The new President of the Brady Campaign, Paul Helmke, has appeared personally at endorsement news conferences for Duckworth in Chicago, Patrick in Boston, and Cuomo in New York. Other Brady staff appeared at news conferences for Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania’s Seventh Congressional District and for Governor Blagojevich in Illinois.

The Brady Campaign has already sent approximately 200,000 emails endorsing slates of candidates or specific candidates. In all, the organization will have sent nearly 400,000 emails in the three weeks leading up to the election
 
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