In Red-State Races, Democrats Seek an Edge by Defying the N.R.A.

HELENA, Mont. — It has been an iron rule for candidates in rural areas and red states for decades: Do not antagonize the National Rifle Association.

But that was before the massacre at a high school in Parkland, Fla., galvanized gun politics across the country. Now, a striking number of Democratic candidates in coming midterm elections, from congressional contests in the Rocky Mountains to governor’s races in the Deep South, are openly daring, defying and disparaging the N.R.A., a group with deep pockets, a loyal membership and a record of Election Day score-settling.

Those Democrats, but also a few Republicans, believe that in the wake of Parkland, many voters have been turned off by the N.R.A.’s hard line, its belligerence and its demands for lock-step loyalty from elected officials. Together, they are testing whether that iron rule for electoral survival and success across rural America still holds.

“The N.R.A. has spent a lot of money on our congressman, and a lot of money on people in Washington, and that dictates what politicians are allowed to say or not say,” John Heenan, a Democrat running for Montana’s sole seat in the House of Representatives, said last week at the Mediterranean Grill restaurant in Helena, the snow-draped capital. “And I think all Montanans, especially gun owners, just want people who are going to be responsive to them and bring common sense to the table.”

Attacking the N.R.A., which claims a membership of nearly 5 million, in even a muted tone is a political gamble. Yet Democrats say they feel emboldened by the groundswell of outrage over gun violence after the Feb. 14 attack in Florida, which left 17 people dead. And they are encouraged by polls showing that measures like universal background checks and age restrictions for gun buyers are widely popular.

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