ENDORSED
BY GIFFORDS
Candidate
Yvette Valdés Smith
State Senate
New York
— SD-39 Democrat
Challenger2024 GIFFORDS CHAMPION AWARD WINNER
As a former public school teacher and the mom of young children, Yvette Valdés Smith knows we need to do more to build a better future for the next generation. Like many parents, she views dropping her kids off at school as the scariest part of the day because our nation’s lax gun laws continue to put children across the country at risk. But Valdés Smith is not standing on the sidelines in the face of daily violence and mass shootings. As minority leader of the Dutchess County legislature, she’s working every day to improve local laws and bolster public safety in our communities.
Now, Valdés Smith is running for the New York State Senate, where the need to pass and strengthen commonsense gun safety measures is more urgent than ever in the wake of landmark Supreme Court’s cases like NYSRPA v. Bruen, which put the fate of New York’s strong gun laws at risk. In Albany, Valdés Smith will work to pass legislation to keep weapons out of hands of domestic abusers and those who pose a threat to themselves or others, strengthen her state’s background check system, and allocate desperately needed funding to lifesaving community violence intervention programs. Valdés Smith will be a powerful voice against the gun lobby as a state senator and push back against any attempts to weaken her state’s gun laws or put her constituents at risk. She knows gun violence is a public health crisis that must be addressed, and she’s prepared to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to keep our communities safe.
With so much still to do to keep our families safe from gun violence, we need leaders in office who are passionate about achieving real results and are doing the hard work necessary to bolster public safety—leaders like Yvette Valdés Smith. She’s a mom on a mission to build a better future for New York’s children, and we know that with her leading the charge on gun safety in the state senate, real progress is possible.
Now, Valdés Smith is running for the New York State Senate, where the need to pass and strengthen commonsense gun safety measures is more urgent than ever in the wake of landmark Supreme Court’s cases like NYSRPA v. Bruen, which put the fate of New York’s strong gun laws at risk. In Albany, Valdés Smith will work to pass legislation to keep weapons out of hands of domestic abusers and those who pose a threat to themselves or others, strengthen her state’s background check system, and allocate desperately needed funding to lifesaving community violence intervention programs. Valdés Smith will be a powerful voice against the gun lobby as a state senator and push back against any attempts to weaken her state’s gun laws or put her constituents at risk. She knows gun violence is a public health crisis that must be addressed, and she’s prepared to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to keep our communities safe.
With so much still to do to keep our families safe from gun violence, we need leaders in office who are passionate about achieving real results and are doing the hard work necessary to bolster public safety—leaders like Yvette Valdés Smith. She’s a mom on a mission to build a better future for New York’s children, and we know that with her leading the charge on gun safety in the state senate, real progress is possible.
We are proud to award Yvette Valdés Smith the GIFFORDS Champion Award and endorse her for the New York State Senate.
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The gun safety movement is on the march: Americans from different background are united in standing up for safer schools and communities. Join us to make your voice heard and power our next wave of victories.
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