2020 NRA Board Endorsements – A Round-Up

The ballots for the 2020 NRA Board of Directors Election were included in the February issues of the official magazines. Those who get the magazines electronically should have received their ballots separately in the mail. If you haven’t received your ballot and you think you are eligible to vote, contact NRA Membership Services at 1- 703-267-1000. Ask for membership. (Correction courtesy of Dave V.)

Completed ballots must be received back by March 29th. Late ballots will not be counted.

The first published endorsements that I saw were from Lt. Col. Robert Brown of Soldier of Fortune Magazine. Col. Brown has been a member of the Board of Directors for a number of years and has been a somewhat independent voice on the board. He endorsed six people for the Board. He notes elsewhere he is NOT voting for Charles Cotton, the current 1st VP.

1. Steve Schreiner
2. Tom Arvas
3. William Carter
4. John Cushman
5. Curtis Jenkins
6. Robert Mansell

Ammoland News is endorsing only two candidates this year: Anthony Colandro and Graham Hill. They go on to say:

Based on the last years’ controversy at the NRA AmmoLand News is very cautious in who we are endorsing as we wait and see how the NRA’s legal challenges work out. Graham Hill is one of those Directors that we know very well and have much respect for his work and trust his leadership skills can help guide the NRA in the year to come. Please Bullet Vote only for Graham Hill and Anthony Colandro when you return your NRA ballot.

Two New Jersey based organizations, the Coalition of New Jersey Firearms Owners and the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, have quite naturally both endorsed Anthony Colandro for re-election. Colandro is also the Exec. VP of ANJRPC. CNJFO says this in their endorsement of Colandro:

Anthony’s DECADES of Second Amendment activism experience, fighting for all of us, with a target on his back, is the thing legends are made of! Leading rallies, testifying for gun owners at hearings held at our state capitol, hosting Tony Simon’s Diversity Shoot and the Second Amendment Women Shooting Club–SAW at his range. He never stops fighting! His in-your-face weekly radio broadcast reaches millions of gun owners nationwide.

The Trigger Pressers Union (a training organization) has endorsed Frank Tait and Jim Wallace. Klint Macro, the head and founder, is also endorsing Todd Ellis and Anthony Colandro according to their Facebook post.

Next up is Save the Second. The organization itself has not endorsed any candidates. They have, however, provided a valuable service by creating a guide to all candidates which can be found here. It has many links to candidates’ social media sites, endorsements, and biographical information.

They also have produced a 2 1/2 hour YouTube where they discuss the candidates. It is worth watching.

The individual directors of Save the Second have made their own recommendations independent of the organization.

Anthony Garcia:

1. Anthony Colandro
2. Graham Hill
3. Robert Mansell
4. Todd Rathner
5. Steve Schreiner
6. Frank Tait

Ron Carter:

1. Anthony Colandro
2. Graham Hill
3. Frank Tait

Rob Pincus:

1. Anthony Colandro
2. Graham Hill
3. Robert Mansell
4. Todd Rathner
5. Steve Schreiner
6. Frank Tait
7. Jim Wallace

Rob Pincus goes into some more detail on his picks in this Ammoland article.

Jeff Knox is someone whose endorsements I take very seriously. Thanks to growing up the son of the late Neal Knox he has a knowledge and institutional history of the NRA that few can rival. He has seen the NRA at its best and worst.

Jeff is blunt on what the NRA faces and the assortment of candidates on this ballot.

The NRA is in deep trouble. I honestly expect indictments and financial sanctions to be coming down very soon from investigations being conducted by the New York and DC attorneys general and other agencies. All of these troubles tie directly back to Wayne LaPierre and the NRA Directors who allowed him to abuse his power so egregiously. If the Association can be saved, it’s going to require Directors willing to make hard decisions and stand firmly on principles. This ballot doesn’t offer a lot of hope for that, but we must do what we can with what we’ve got.

Jeff has made both endorsements and non-endorsements. The non-endorsements are those who should not get your vote under any circumstances. These include Charles Cotton, Ron Schmeitz, and Alan Cors. Rejecting these three would, in Jeff’s words, send a “loud message to the Board and the powers that be.” He also mentions John Cushman who is running by petition. Cushman has been on the Board off and on for 20 years. Jeff considers him part of the problem and not part of the solution.

In years gone past, Jeff has endorsed bullet voting. This year he has broadened the number of candidates he supports. They include:

1. Frank Tait
2. Phillip Journey
3. Niger Innis
4. Jim Wallace
5. Anthony Colandro
6. Mark Vaughn
7. Mark Robinson
8. Robert Mansell
9. Kevin Hogan
10. Paul Babaz

Finally, as a reminder, I am endorsing both Frank Tait and Graham Hill. I think both are excellent candidates and worthy of your support. I am also suggesting bullet voting. The NRA Board election is what is termed in political science an “approval election“. This means there are multiple candidates running for multiple seats and you can vote for as many candidates as there are seats. Social scientists have written extensively on approval elections and on voting strategically in these elections.

Since you cannot rank order your preferences, if you vote for as many candidates as there are open seats, then your most favored candidate is equal to your least favored candidate. One merely needs to look to the presidential election of 1800 to see the consequences. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr both got the same number of electoral votes even though one was running for president and the other for vice-president. This became known as the Burr Dilemma. That election was ultimately decided in the House of Representatives.

If you see other endorsements for the Board that you think should be highlighted, please comment and include a link to the endorsement with your comments.