Sen. Christopher S. Murphy announced Tuesday the first set of candidates his new political fund will back in an effort to elect more lawmakers dedicated to combating gun violence.   

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Democrat Launches Fund to Support Gun Control Candidates

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The Connecticut Democrat encouraged donations to two Senate candidates and one House hopeful, all Democrats, in an email sent to his supporters. His “Fund to End Gun Violence” will support New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan and former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto for Senate, and former Orlando Chief of Police Val Demings in Florida’s 10th Congressional District.   

The announcement came as Chris Cox, who heads the National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm, is set to address the GOP convention in Cleveland.   

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“But it is important to note that his speech tonight is set against the backdrop of the NRA beginning to lose its vise grip on Congress,” Murphy wrote in the email.   

“The filibuster I led in the Senate, followed by the House sit-in, have helped us turn a corner in the fight to pass anti-gun violence legislation,” Murphy wrote. “But now we need to keep our momentum going by continuing to build a national political infrastructure that rivals that of the NRA.”  

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Murphy pledged to take the issue of gun violence to the campaign trail following his nearly 15-hour filibuster on the issue in June. The senator has been a staunch gun control advocate ever since the tragic shooting in his home state at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.