2026 NRA Board Election

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Another NRA Board Change

October 17, 2025 by 7 Comments

Change in the composition of the NRA Board of Directors seems to be happening daily. I just received a notice that longtime board member David Coy has resigned due to his being elected as Treasurer of the NRA Foundation. This was done to avoid a conflict of interest.

Normally the next runner-up would fill this position. That would be Frank Tait. However, Frank declined and thus it passed to Regis Synan who has accepted. Regis will serve until the close of the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Members in Houston. Regis who is from western Pennsylvania was part of the NRA 2.0 ticket in 2025.

Regis is the mayor of Murrysville, PA as well as the President of manufacturing company F. Tinker & Sons. He is on the ballot for the 2026 NRA Board election. A Benefactor Life member, Regis has served as a trustee of the NRA Foundation as well as on a number of NRA committees.

The final year of David Coy’s term will be filled in the 2026 NRA Board of Directors election. This will make a total of 28 seats filled out of the 38 candidates on the ballot. There will be the 25 regular 3-year terms to be filled, one 2-year term, one 1-year term, and then the remaining 11 runners-up will vie for the 1-year term of the 76th Director.

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2026 NRA Board Candidates (Corrected)

October 12, 2025 by 8 Comments

The combined list of candidates for the 2026 NRA Board of Directors election was released on Friday. It includes all candidates that were either nominated by the Nominating Committee or who are in the ballot by petition. As a reminder, petition candidates needed a minimum of 363 valid signatures from NRA voting members.

Three candidates were also double nominated. That is they are on the ballot by both nomination and by petition. Last election, I was one of two who were double nominated as I considered it important to be on the ballot by the will of the members. This year’s three are Rob Beckman, Steve Schreiner, and Amanda Suffecool.

Looking over the list of candidates they range in age from 25 years old to over 90 with a lot in the middle. There is also a good geographical dispersion with candidates representing the West, Midwest, and East. There are also a number of new candidates who have never run for the Board previously. These new candidates are on the ballot by both methods.

I knew a number of what I consider the Old Guard were running by petition. Only three by my count made it. The shocker to me is the absence of former NRA President Charles Cotton who I erroneously thought had qualified by petition. I would be a hypocrite if I said I was upset by that.

If I have my numbers are correct, out of the 38 candidates, 25 will be elected to 3-year terms, one will be the 76th Director, and one will fill the remaining year of a two-year term that was open last year. Thus, 27 26 out of the 38 candidates will be elected.

The full, corrected list is below:

Combined Candidate List 2025-26 – CORRECTEDDownload

CORRECTION: I made an incorrect assumption about the two year term filled in 2025. That seat was to fill Carolyn Meadows’ seat that opened up in 2024. The remainder of that year was filled by next runner-up Kim Rhode. Then the 2025 election was to fill the full remaining two years of Meadows’ seat which went to first runner-up Joel Friedman. He will fill that seat until 2027.

Secretary John Frazer sent me this explanation:

A vacancy is filled initially by the next available runner-up (through the next Annual Meeting).  See Bylaws Art. IV sec. 2.  Then, after the meeting, the remainder of the term (one or two years) is filled by election.  See Art. VIII sec. 3(j).  This keeps the board’s “classes” equal when different lengths of vacancies occur.

To illustrate with Joel’s case, Carolyn Meadows was elected in 2024 to a three-year term, but resigned in August 2024. Kim Rhode was the next runner-up and filled the vacancy until the 2025 Annual Meeting.  On the 2025 ballot, Joel came in 26th, so he was elected to finish Carolyn’s term until 2027. 

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The Old Guard Is Not Fading Away

September 23, 2025 by 5 Comments

Those who thought that with the reformers ascendant in the NRA that the Old Guard would, to paraphrase Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, go quietly into the night would be mistaken. With the Nominating Committee chaired by Buz Mills and filled with reformers, many in the Old Guard whose terms are expiring are, by necessity, going the petition route.

Some like former NRA President Charles Cotton seem to have taken a stealth approach. From what I understand, he worked his connections in Texas to gather enough signatures to be on the ballot for 2026. I should note that he was not in attendance at the recent Fall Meeting of the NRA Board.

Others were working to gather signatures at the Board meeting and I did sign a number of petitions. I did this because I did see many of the Old Guard working cooperatively with the reformers to rebuild and rejuvenate the NRA. At the end of our semi-marathon Board meeting, many on both sides stood to say it was good to see everyone working together for the good of the NRA and gun rights.

A friend tipped me off to a website linking to the petitions of many of the Old Guard or newbies associated with them. It is called votersaware.com. There are petitions for existing directors such as Curtis Jenkins, Barbara Rumpel, and Eb Wilkinson among others. In addition you have potential candidates like Jeff Fleetham and Lane Ruhland who ran unsuccessfully in 2025 plus two or three other new candidates.

I don’t know who established this website but the Wayback Machine shows it having posts going back to 2016. Back then it was affiliated with an independent expenditure PAC. It seemed to have an anti-Hillary Clinton focus along with conservative leanings. Examining the page source of the page now, I did come across a reference to https://www.armsandammunitionnews.com. Using the Wayback Machine again, that led to an endorsement by Bob Barr of the list of candidates affiliated with the StrongNRA (Old Guard) team in the 2025 board election. If I had to make a guess, and it is only a guess, the website is somehow affiliated with him.

I am not saying to sign or not sign these petitions. Use your own good judgment.

I would, however, say re-electing Charles Cotton to the Board of Directors would be a travesty.

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Let’s Put Huey Over The Top

September 21, 2025 by 2 Comments

Huey Laugesen needs your help to get on the NRA ballot for 2026 by petition. He is close to having the required number of signatures but needs about 100 more to get over the top.

He is the executive director of the Colorado Shooting Sports Association and serves with me on the NRA Board’s Membership Committee. I have endorsed him in the past and continue that endorsement as I believe he has good ideas on how to increase membership in the NRA.

Just as importantly, he understands how tenuous our hold on gun rights can be. He is from Colorado which has transitioned from a good state on gun rights to one of the worst. Earlier this month, his organization with the assistance of the Mountain States Legal Foundation filed suit against the State of Colorado over its new permit to purchase law for certain semi-automatic firearms.

If you are a NRA Life Member (of any level) or an Annual Member with five or more years of continuous, unbroken membership you are eligible to sign Huey’s petition. As I and others have said, Huey is just the sort of younger member we need on the Board. Please sign his petition below if you have not already done so. Just as importantly, forward his petition link to fellow NRA members for them to sign.

https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/c1cb1f95-9d72-4df2-9be4-935a07d2e6e6?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

All signatures must be submitted by October 7th. Signatures done online are submitted immediately so I am urging you to go use the link above and not procrastinate on signing.

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Huey Laugesen For NRA Board

September 2, 2025 by 1 Comment

Huey Laugesen is the executive director of the Colorado Shooting Sports Association as well as a member of the NRA’s Membership Committee. He is running to be on the 2026 NRA Board election ballot by petition. I have posted his petition link previously and I’m doing it again.

https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/c1cb1f95-9d72-4df2-9be4-935a07d2e6e6?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

I serve on the Membership Committee with Huey and I am convinced he is someone who needs to be on the Board for a variety of reasons. First, he has successfully increased the membership of the CSSA by 170% in the last two years. His use of targeted mailings in that state should be used as a guide by the NRA.

 Sadly to say given how Colorado politics have trended recently, he is now on the front lines of the battles to preserve our Second Amendment rights. If anyone knows how a state can go from good to bad in a short period of time, it is Huey and he is fighting it tooth and nail.

Huey would bring youth to the Board and would help us find ways to appeal to Millennials and Gen Z. He is, by my estimate, on the lower end of the Millennial generation yet is still a husband and father. In other words, his youth is tempered by responsibility.

Huey’s biography is below:

Huey Laugesen NRA BoD Candidate BioDownload
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Todd Vandermyde For NRA Board

September 1, 2025 by 1 Comment

I nominated Todd Vandermyde for the NRA Board in 2024 and I did it again this year. Neither time resulted in him being nominated by the Nominating Committee which I found very disappointing. Todd was on the ballot by petition for the 2025 Board election and was a part of the NRA 2.0 reform slate. Unfortunately, he missed being elected by a just a few spots.

Todd is again running for the Board by petition. He is off to a good start but needs your help to cross the finish line. If you are a voting member of the NRA, you should sign his electronic petition! Voting members are either Life Members or Annual Members who have 5 or more years of continuous, unbroken membership.

https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/bc943a68-a03b-4e53-be4e-b5f1ddffa775

First and foremost, Todd is an innovative thinker when it comes to finding ways to preserve, protect, and advance the Second Amendment through both legislation and litigation. Sometimes to move beyond incremental change you need a disruptor and I think Todd could provide this to both the Legislative Affairs and Legal Affairs Committees. He fought for over 25 years in the Illinois General Assembly to advance gun rights and won more than he lost. Further, he has helped build Second Amendment litigation from scratch including Shepard v Madigan who brought shall-issue concealed carry to Illinois.

Second, he is the President of the Aurora Sportsman’s Club which is the largest gun club in Illinois with over 2,000 members. Running a gun club that size is like herding cats with all the competing interests and Todd has done it smoothly. Having this non-profit management experience would be valuable on the Board. Even more importantly, clubs and associations have been earmarked as an area in which the NRA is seeking to grow members.

Third, Todd knows social media. His YouTube channel Freedom’s Steel has a growing viewership and Todd’s analysis of cases is spot on. Yeah, he kinda looks like a “Bad Santa” but he is our Bad Santa.

Fourth, Todd knows heavy machinery! Of course he does as he was an operating engineer (aka heavy machinery operator) as a member of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. In other words, Todd has worked with his hands unlike most of us on the NRA Board. Given today is Labor Day, I thought it important to point this out.

Fifth, Todd is a veteran. He served 19 years in the US Army Reserves in a variety of units and MOS’s.

Finally, Todd is my friend and we have known one another for years. That said, I have never been more impressed with Todd than over the past two years as he has helped his wife Amy rebound from a massive stroke. That takes love, dedication, care, and perseverance.

Todd’s bio is below and gives many details. Why he was not nominated by the Nominating Committee is beyond me but you can see that he is on the ballot by signing his petition.

As Nike advertises – Just Do It!

Todd Vandermyde BIODownload
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2025 NRA Nominating Committee Report

August 25, 2025 by 4 Comments

The NRA’s Nominating Committee met this past weekend to evaluate candidates for the 2026 Board of Director’s election. Out of 53 nominations, they selected 30 candidates of whom only 25 can be elected. Further, two candidates of the 30 nominated, former NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Steve Schreiner, were only nominated contingent to receiving an attendance waiver from the Board of Directors. Article IV, Section 1(a)(3) states that no existing director who has missed more than one-third of the meetings during his or her term is eligible for nomination absent a waiver. In other words, you need to have attended two out of three Board meetings per year.

Looking over the list which is embedded below, I am gratified to see that three out of the four people I nominated for the Board were nominated. I am very disappointed that Todd Vandermyde was not nominated. Based upon my conversation this afternoon with Todd, he is considering a run by petition. If he decides to do so, he will have my full support.

There are a number of other candidates whose petition drives I have supported on the list as well. These include Charlie Brown, Randy Luth, Todd Figard, and, of course, Amanda Suffecool. There are some good petition candidates out there in addition to Todd. One in particular would be Huey Laugesen of Colorado. I work with Huey on the Membership Committee and we need more like him on the Board. The job he has done in recruiting members for the Colorado Shooting Sports Association is fantastic.

The full report from the Nominating Committee is below:

Nominating Committee Report – 2025Download

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Your Weekend Task – Sign These Petitions

August 15, 2025 by 4 Comments

The clock is ticking on the time limit to gather the required 363 valid signatures to be placed upon the NRA Board of Directors ballot for 2026. The Nominating Committee meets on August 23rd and then 45 days later the window closes. Article VIII, Sec. 3(b) of the Bylaws provides NO leeway to the deadline and it is a black letter bylaw at that. A black letter bylaw can only be changed by a vote of the members and it has a very high bar to even get on the ballot.

The first three here are candidates that I have either nominated directly or strongly encouraged to run for the Board

Todd Vandermyde

Todd is the president of the Aurora Sportsman’s Club which is the largest gun club in Illinois. More importantly, Todd spent years in the trenches of the Illinois General Assembly lobbying for gun rights. Few people know more Illinois gun laws than Todd. Additionally, Todd has helped bring many lawsuits that have helped advance gun rights. While not a lawyer, his out of the box thinking on legal and legislative strategy is desperately needed on the Board of Directors. I was happy to nominate Todd for the Board last year and am happy to do it again. We need him on the Board.

Rob Beckman

Rob brings so many things to the table as I said in my post endorsing him back in June. He has business experience, he has a social media presence as a podcaster, he is a trainer, he is a hunter, and the list keeps going on. Most importantly, Rob is solidly on the side of reform and rebuilding the NRA. Frank Tait has a more extensive biography of Rob on his Substack site.

Jacqueline Janes

I have known Jaci since we met at the Lucky Gunner Blogger Shoot in 2011. As I said in my post endorsing her, we have kept in touch ever since at various events. Jaci brings industry experience, competitive experience, non-profit experience, and marketing experience to the table. She is currently the Director of Marketing for Apex Tactical Specialties in Arizona. Importantly, she brings with her significant grassroots organizing experience. Indeed, she and her partner Robert were co-winners of the NRA-ILA’s Jay M. Littlefield Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award for 2012.

The next five names on my list were not nominated or recruited by me but are people I’ve worked with to improve the NRA over the past few years.

Huey Laugesen

I serve with Huey on the NRA’s Membership Committee. He is the Executive Director of the Colorado Shooting Sports Association. He has increased their membership by 170% by the smart use of social media and targeted emails. Sadly to say given how Colorado politics have trended recently, he is now on the front lines of the battles to preserve our Second Amendment rights. If anyone knows how a state can go from good to bad in a short period of time, it is Huey and he is fighting it tooth and nail. Huey is, I believe, on the younger end of the Millennial age range. Frank Tait published a bio for Huey on his website found here.

Charles Brown

Charles was part of the NRA 2.0 slate in 2024-25. Unfortunately, due to back to back hurricanes, he was not able to get his petitions in by the deadline and had to run as a write-in candidate. He has been in the firearms industry for decades as the owner of MKS Supply and Hi-Point Firearms. You can scoff all you want about Hi-Point pistols but they work and they serve a niche in the market. Charles would bring needed management and marketing experience to the Board if he is on the ballot. Frank Tait has more here.

R. Todd Figard

Todd was part of our NRA 2.0 ticket in 2024-25 running by petition. He is a retired quality engineer from Ohio, a firearms safety examiner for the Great American Outdoor Show, and an instructor. Unfortunately, Todd did not make the cut to be elected in 2025 but would make an excellent candidate for 2026. He comes highly recommended by my friend Amanda Suffecool.

Randy Luth

Randy was one of the first within the firearms industry to break from the “all is well with the NRA” theme pushed by Wayne LaPierre and his cohort. As far back as 2021, he called for Wayne to leave. Randy currently owns Luth-AR and was the founder of DPMS-Panther Arms which is now a sister company to Palmetto State Armory. I think Randy has confirmed his reformer credentials and I think his management and entrepreneurial experience speaks for itself.

LtCol Robert Brown

What more can I say about Col. Bob that hasn’t already been said? Founder of Soldier of Fortune Magazine, shooting raconteur, former dissident Board member, and burr under the saddle of the Old Guard. When I decided to run for the Board, he was one of those who encouraged me to just do it.

You can find the rest of Col. Bob’s endorsements here. I don’t know some of them so I have to trust his recommendations which have always proved valid.

As a final aside, Amanda Suffecool is not on this list because she has made her numbers. Way to go, Amanda!

Just as a reminder, only voting members of the NRA can sign these petitions. A voting member is a Life Member of whatever level or an Annual Member with five years of continuous, unbroken membership or more. I hate to say it but if you had a break in your Annual Membership, the clock started again.

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Jacqueline Janes For NRA Board

July 30, 2025 by 3 Comments

I am proud to endorse Jacqueline “Jaci” Janes for the NRA Board of Directors. I have known Jaci since we both attended the Lucky Gunner Blogger Shoot all the way back in 2011. We have kept up with one another over the years whether it was running into one another at a NRA Annual Meeting, the SHOT Show, or another event.

When I began to seek out people who I thought could bring something to the Board of Directors to nominate, I was looking for not only reform-minded individuals but people who could bring multiple talents to the Board. Jaci is such an individual.

Obviously from her shirt you can tell she is a competitor. Participation in competition is just one thing the Nominating Committee is seeking.

Jaci goes well beyond that.

She was a volunteer for the NRA-ILA in Arizona for 14 years. Indeed, she was the co-recipient of the Jay M. Littlefield Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award for 2012 along with her partner Robert Messenger. She knows the grassroots and has helped organize it.

She served a 3-year term as a director of the Phoenix Rod & Gun Club including one year as membership director.

Jaci has been a marketing professional for over 30 years including 10 within the firearms industry. She is currently the Director of Marketing for Apex Tactical Specialties in Peoria, AZ. Along those lines, she knows social media and how to use it for marketing.

Jaci is running for the Board by both petition and is seeking nomination by the Nominating Committee. I encouraged her to do it both ways.

Her petition is below and I think you should sign it if you are a voting member of the NRA. Both the Complementary Spouse and I have signed.

As a reminder, a voting member is either a Life Member or a 5-year, continuous with no breaks, Annual Member.

https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/8f440d9c-a25b-4f14-8583-8616be5f4fab

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NRA Nominating Committee Priorities

July 18, 2025 by 7 Comments

Bear in mind that the Final Judgment mandated that the Nominating Committee should “endeavor” to find 20 additional candidates for the board who were qualified (5+ years as a Life Member and conflict free) and who had not served more than one term of office on the Board prior to 2022. In other words, Judge Cohen didn’t want to see the same old 25 or so people being nominated for the Board of Directors year after year.

Part of the nomination process approved by the court was for the Nominating Committee in consultation with the officers to develop a list of attributes that they were seeking in candidates for the Board. I reached out to Buz Mills who is chair of the Nominating Committee for this list of attributes. With his permission, here is the list that was developed.

The following attributes were identified as skills particularly desired over and above those normally evaluated:

Gap Analysis:

  • Insurance / risk management experience
  • Finance / Investment review
  • Competition Shooting
  • Membership organizational experience
  • Gun Collectors
  • Minorities (Hispanic, Black, Asian)
  • Younger individuals with business or program background

Other qualifications desired:

  • Ability to communicate effectively
  • High level of passion for the NRA and our advocacy
  • Availably to dedicate a great deal of time to the Association
  • Availability to commit to extensive travel
  • Great social media skills
  • Industry professionals
  • Media influencers

If you know of someone who be a great Board member, nominate them! Nominations have to be in to the Nominating Committee by August 3rd in order for nominees to fill out the requisite paperwork and for the Nominating Committee to evaluate it.

If you would like to run by run by petition, you need to request the petition (and nomination) package from the Secretary’s Office. I would send an email to Laura Green, the Assistant Secretary, at lgreen@nrahq.org to request it. She will send you the packet and will set up your online link to your petition.

As I have said before elsewhere, the Board will only be as good as those we have on the ballot. To be brutally honest, write-in candidates have little to no chance of being elected. I could be wrong but the only person I know of who got elected by way of a write-in vote was the late Charlton Heston and that was almost 30 years ago.