House races

Bloomberg gun-control group readies attacks on bill opponents

{mosads}”Today was round one. Round two begins tomorrow,” MAIG director Mark Glaze told The Hill.

Glaze said that the group is looking to ensure vulnerable senators who voted against the measure to expand background checks suffer electoral  in 2014. The measure failed on a 52-46 vote, with five Democratic no-votes.

Glaze said that gun-control advocates hadn’t given up hope on passing a measure similar to the one that failed on Wednesday.

“I would be surprised if, between now and 2014, there was not ample opportunity to change some votes,” he said, noting the number of mass shootings that have occurred over the past two years, and the political momentum in favor of gun-control that grew following the shootings.

Glaze hinted that one of the ways the group plans to drive the issue home is to put a human face on the price of a vote against expanded gun-control measures.

“People need to be held accountable. And when somebody in their state is murdered by a felon who got a gun by a private seller who would have otherwise gotten a background check … they’re going to hear about it,” he said.

MAIG has already targeted a handful of Senators, and five of those targeted — Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) — voted yes. Glaze said they’re counting all of those votes as successes, though only two, Hagan and Landrieu, are facing tough reelection fights next year. Toomey backed the bill.

Glaze indicated the group could hone in on tougher targets in its next campaign. He said the group will attack “every senator who voted no, starting with those who are vulnerable and with a heavy emphasis on those who could not cite a cogent, rational reason for doing so.”

But where other Democratic groups have indicated a willingness to back primary challenges to incumbent Democrats who voted against the bill, Glaze demurred when asked if MAIG would do the same. He suggested that while everything’s on the table, “different organizations are looking at different options.”

Looking at 2014, however, Glaze suggested the gun-control issue could be a potent one in House races, particularly against Republicans in suburban swing districts.

Tags Joe Donnelly John McCain Kay Hagan Mary Landrieu

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