Updated 44 minutes ago
PHILADELPHIA — After Pittsburgh and Parkland, Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, gun control supporters approached Tuesday’s midterm election with what they said was more momentum than ever, expecting national frustration with mass shootings to help buoy some candidates to victory.
And on Wednesday, their optimism appeared to be largely affirmed, with victories by gun control candidates in many of the congressional and gubernatorial races supporters viewed as referenda on the issue, in states including Pennsylvania, Virginia and Nevada. But gun rights supporters touted their own successes, including two U.S. Senate contests and state-level elections in Arkansas, Idaho and Oklahoma.
The changing tides of the historic, divisive midterm were enough to bring “a gun-sense majority … elected to the U.S. House,” said Brynne Craig, political director of Everytown for Gun Safety. That majority is largely aligned with the new Democratic House majority, and gun control advocates said predictions based on polling, ad spending and activism that gun control would motivate voters were proved correct Tuesday. According to one exit poll by NBC News, most voters said they support stricter gun laws, with one in 10 naming it as the country’s most important issue.
Some key races in Pennsylvania:
Several candidates backed by gun control groups won congressional elections, including Democrats Chrissy Houlahan in the 6th District, Susan Wild in the 7th, and Conor Lamb in the 17th. Houlahan and Lamb, both veterans, had strong backing from the groups and from VoteVets, which teamed up with former Rep. Gabby Giffords’ organization to promote “gun-sense” candidates. Democrats Madeleine Dean in the 4th and Mary Gay Scanlon in the 5th also won.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick,
