by The results from the 2026 NRA board election are in and the draft results have been released. The final results will be announced at the Meeting of the Members at the Annual Meeting in Houston.
As Secretary John Frazer notes in his statement accompanying the results, both the final results as well as the need to elect the 76th Director could change if someone declines a seat.
From John Frazer:
Dear Board and Executive Council members:
The draft tabulation of the NRA mail ballot election results has been received. Notices have been sent by e-mail to each candidate. The overall results are below, in rank order of votes received. The final vote tallies will be released in Houston.
Finally, as you know, there is a chance that no 76th Director election will be necessary. If any candidate declines a seat, or chooses not to run for 76th Director, or if any other vacancy occurs before the Annual Meeting, the partial-term directors will up accordingly. If that happens, we’ll send a revised list.
Please join us in congratulating these newly elected or reelected directors.
ELECTED FOR THREE-YEAR TERMS ENDING IN 2029
- Leroy Sisco
- Megan Hilbish
- Amanda Suffecool
- Ted Carter
- Linda Walker
- James D’Cruz
- Kenneth Bowra
- David Raney
- James W. Porter II
- Jacqueline Janes
- Jay Wallace
- William Bailey
- Eric Mettauer
- Bruce Widener
- Rob Beckman
- Mark Vaughan
- Robert Mansell
- Charles Brown
- Charles Hiltunen III
- Mark Robinson
- Jerry Kraus
- Amy Heath-Lovato
- Randy Luth
- Eb Wilkinson
- Richard Fairburn
ELECTED FOR TWO-YEAR TERMS ENDING IN 2028
- Regis Synan
- Todd Figard
- Deborah Lyman
- Kyle Hupfer
- Robert K. Brown
- Steve Schreiner
ELECTED FOR ONE-YEAR TERMS ENDING IN 2027
- Jim Wallace
- Alex Carroll
- Huey Laugesen
- Todd Vandermyde
NOT ELECTED — ELIGIBLE TO RUN FOR 76TH DIRECTOR
Isaac Demarest(Withdrew)- Lynn Gipson
WITHDREW
- Ernest Myer
I have bolded those candidates whom I endorsed. Eleven won full three-year terms, one got a two-year term, and the other two got one-year terms.
I have also put the names of the candidates that I nominated for the Board in italics. Three – James D’Cruz, Jaci Janes, and Rob Beckman – were nominated by the Nominating Committee and all three won three year terms. The four, Todd Vandermyde, was on the ballot by petition. I am disappointed that he only won a one year term as he has brought a lot of street experience and wisdom from the trenches to the Legislative Policy Committee.
Sometimes there is no rhyme nor reason to where candidates end up on this list. Sometimes it is name recognition, sometimes it is the candidate’s private network of friends and associates, and sometimes it seems to be just plain chance.
Nonetheless, congratulations to all on this list. I look forward to working with you for the betterment of the NRA in the year or years to come.
UPDATE: From John Frazer:
Isaac Demarest has withdrawn from the 76th Director race. That leaves Lynn Gipson as the only remaining runner-up who would be eligible for the 76th Director ballot, and he can therefore be deemed elected without the need to conduct balloting.
The revised results are below; please join us in congratulating Mr. Gipson on his election to the NRA Board.
This is the first real big test of my revised tracking system. I shall see if I can keep the seats straight. Thank you!
So the Reformers just SCRAPED BY. What is WRONG with the membership?
Without data to do a full comparison of what all they did to get votes, you can’t really do an analysis. And even then, you’d need inside information that isn’t likely available.
I know only a handful of NRA members who voted. Most of my network are people extremely involved in guns, they are life members, they want to see NRA survive. However, they generally don’t think there have been changes to make it worth their limited energy. I hear comments on how NRA is just this thing in Virginia, they aren’t anything that (they perceive) impacts them. I hear from those who have been members and technically other roles like instructor or match director for their sports with NRA for decades that they just don’t see a value in NRA on a practical side or see changes that leads them to believe NRA has any interest in their shooting interests. They don’t see value in engaging with NRA anymore.
I can’t say I blame them. I’ve watched various departments completely blow off outreach to communities they ran off & not replace with any new success. I watch what NRA Media staff choose to promote and much of it is not the NRA community. I see Competitions cancel what I was led to believe were successful shoots (maybe they weren’t?) to shift funding to private shoots for their buddies & payments to influencers who aren’t actually attending, setting up, or promoting shoots that are the supposed reasons for their contracts. I’ve watched people get hired with titles and promises to meet a specific goal and get paid for a year or more to deliver nothing. Literally nothing. Not a single thing related to their job. I know NRA members who have been lied to by a Board Chair – in writing & verbally (I’ve seen the writing) – on membership issues and completely fabricate supposed new bylaw policies to justify the claims they were making. (Finding competent staff inside, turns out there was a tech problem that impacted EVERY single membership in certain sign up formats and they didn’t know. Got thanked for passing the actual issue off and no one can figure out why this Board Chair refused to work with them on it and instead lied to members for close to a year.) I know I’ve had to correct Board members (a reformer at that!) because they didn’t even know simple NRA department work. I have personally experienced sending feedback to two Chairs who simply refuse to acknowledge anything at all, even very polite suggestions that have direct benefits to membership, paid engagement opportunities, cost little to nothing, and extended indirect revenue opportunities.
I’ve even had messages from Board members and staff that are summed up as, “We hear you and even think this would make a difference, but we don’t want to change!” And these are so-called reformers and staff promoted by so-called reformers.
Between the lack of really visible changes to many of the members and their interests, plus the discover by those highly involved that many reformers were RINOS – reformers in name only – and treat members & donors poorly, it’s not a surprise that there was much more bullet voting among those I know who voted. The names of many “reformers” (even some who did well) did not have the support of many of the most engaged running the most NRA programs on the ground because they’ve learned some lessons in the last two years.
Some of the lack of support is coming from those who are watching, are trying to save the organization, and have experience with them.
I observe that voter turnout has not been reported. I would think that would be the most basic and readily available data.
That’s because the details of votes have always – as stated by the bylaws – been reported at the Meeting of Members.
I consider it a most basic and readily expected action for the NRA to follow its bylaws.
Fair enough.