Anti-Amendment One group raises $1.1 million

Announcement from the Coalition to Protect All NC Families:

Raleigh, N.C. – On Tuesday, March 27, the Coalition to Protect All NC Families announced that the campaign referendum committee had raised $1.1 million to defeat Amendment One, a constitutional amendment on the May 8, 2012, North Carolina primary ballot that would threaten heath care benefits and other protections for unmarried couples in the state.

This financial milestone was reached only 24 hours after the campaign launched an aggressive online and grassroots fundraising effort on March 26, designed to capitalize on recent momentum in national statements against Amendment One from President Obama, local opposition from Gov. Bev Perdue and Democratic gubernatorial and lt. gubernatorial candidates, as well as recent polling numbers showing diminished support for the constitutional rewrite. The fundraising effort, also known as a “money bomb,” which launched at a starting point of $950,000, raised the additional $150,000 from state and national donors, pushing the campaign to $1.1 million one day later on March 27.

The Protect All NC Families campaign, a coalition effort to educate North Carolinians on the harms of Amendment One, reported that over 80 percent of the $1.1 million in donations to the campaign since November 2011 came from individual North Carolina donors. The $1 million milestone, reached on March 26, puts Protect All NC Families well on its way to becoming the second most financially successful state referendum campaign to defeat an amendment of this type in the South (behind Florida in 2008).

Protect All NC Families praised campaign supporters’ willingness to contribute so much to defeat Amendment One on May 8.

“We want to extend our deepest appreciation to North Carolinians and others, all of whom have contributed so selflessly to help us reach this $1.1 million milestone,” said Jeremy Kennedy, campaign manager for Protect All NC Families. “Thousands of North Carolinians from every corner of the state and every political persuasion have given of themselves to help us defy every expectation in our concerted effort to defeat Amendment One. This financial milestone enables us to do the most important thing we could in this campaign: hit the airwaves to educate as many citizens as possible about the harms to North Carolina families and children.”

This most recent fundraising effort continues the success of the Protect All NC Families anti-Amendment One campaign, which features more than 120 coalition partners across the state who reach diverse, wide-ranging audiences and who have pledged opposition to Amendment One. Partners include HRC, the NC-NAACP, Libertarian Party of North Carolina, NC Democratic Party, the Alliance of Baptists, ACLU, Equality NC and more. [http://www.protectallncfamilies.org/content/whos-against-amendment-one]

This unprecedented coalition effort drew the interest of President Obama who announced his opposition to Amendment One last week, the first time the president has commented on a state ballot referendum touching gay issues.

“Continuous support is proof that Amendment One, which could take health care away from children, put domestic violence laws in jeopardy, in addition to hurting all unmarried couples in North Carolina, has far-reaching, negative consequences and that North Carolinians and their national allies won’t sit back and let it pass without a fight,” said Kennedy.

The Protect All NC Families coalition effort is continuing its “money bomb” through Monday, April 3, to help continue the strong momentum of the campaign.

To learn more or to participate in the fundraising effort, visit: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/ncmoneybomb