2027 NRA Board Election

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Final NRA Candidate List Released

October 24, 2026 by 0 Comments

NRA Secretary John Frazer has released the complete list of candidates that will appear on the 2027 Board of Directors ballot. It includes both those nominated by the Nominating Committee and those who have qualified to be on the ballot by a petition of the members.

Six candidates qualified for the ballot by petition. They are Wade Callender, Dennis Fusaro, Phil Journey, Don Saba, Terri Townsend, and Todd Vandermyde. Additionally, both Huey Laugesen and Chris Ellen Rakyta are double nominated meaning they were nominated by the Nominating Committee and by petition of the members.

The complete list of candidates including how they were nominated is embedded below.

Combined Candidate List 2026-2027 – CORRECTEDDownload

I anticipate publishing my list of endorsements in January 2027. I will be encouraging a bullet vote and I have some hard decisions to make on who will make that list.

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An Overview Of The NRA Nominees

September 30, 2026 by 2 Comments

I have digging into the report from the Nominating Committee and the 27 nominees that they reported out. Using LinkedIn, Google, and other sources, I have been able to put together a high level overview of the candidates. Many candidates touch on multiple categories.

I am sure as we get closer to the election that I and others will start doing more of deep dive on all the individuals on the ballot including those who made it by petition. Speaking of which, if you haven’t signed the petitions of these candidates and you are a voting member, do so now!

The first breakdown is by incumbency, past service, and meeting the Final Judgment criteria for “New Qualified Candidates.” The last means they are new with no service on the Board, their service on the Board was post 2022, or that they served only one term prior to 2022.

  • 11 Incumbents
  • 2 Prior Board Service
  • 16 Not Currently Serving as Directors
  • 22 Meet Final Judgment criteria of “New Qualified Candidates”

The next breakdown is by demographics.

  • 23 Men
  • 4 Women
  • 2 Minorities
  • 2 Age 30 or Under (maybe)

My final breakdown is by their background. In this breakdown most candidates will hit multiple categories.

  • 7 Business (Other than Financial Services)
  • 3 Financial Services
  • 3 Prior NRA Employee (ILA or Field Director)
  • 2 Law Enforcement
  • 6 Military Service
  • 6 Lobbyists
  • 4 Trained in Engineering
  • 2 Information Technology
  • 5 Attorneys (apparently only one still in practice other than lobbying or finance)
  • 4 Prior or Current Non-Elected Government Service
  • 4 Held Elected Office
  • 1 Public Relations
  • 3 President or Exec Director of State Association
  • 2 Competitors
  • 2 Primarily 2A Activists

This is only a thumbnail sketch of the candidates from the Nominating Committee and it comes from what I gathered independently. I did not use AI to generate this as I prefer to do my own digging.

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Petition Deadline Is In Two Weeks

September 29, 2026 by 2 Comments

The deadline for candidates to have all their signatures into the NRA Secretary’s Office is in two weeks. While the Nominating Committee nominated 27 individuals, there are many more that can appear on the ballot if they have enough signatures. To qualify in this election cycle, a candidate needs to submit 285 valid signatures from voting members of the NRA.

I am strongly of the opinion that the more qualified candidates who appear on the ballot, the better. Choice is good and more choices are even better. I won’t criticize the Nominating Committee for their choices or for only nominating 27 individuals for the 26 open spots (25 three year terms plus the one year 76th director term).

Everyone of the petition candidates below has proven his or her qualifications by recent or current service on the NRA Board of Directors, has served on a NRA committee, or has fought the fight for the 2A at the highest levels. Some have done all of the above. I have omitted the petitions of those who I previously posted if they were nominated by the committee or have removed their name from consideration.

Phil Journey

Phil’s Petition Link: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/fdfb4ab4-a440-44b5-950e-5d2ee74da3ea

Maria Heil

Maria’s Petition Link: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/11542b00-6b13-48ee-ad8b-d432c4ba2927

Terri Townsend

Terri’s Petition Link: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/2f4d9273-96e3-4726-83ca-ea020364df4b

Todd Vandermyde

Todd’s Petition Link: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/1aaf6d83-59ab-4359-8155-78ebc00caa63

David Mitten

David’s Petition Link:  https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/761a1fe8-b495-489f-a92b-8870b45a8aa0

Wade Callender

Wade’s Petition Link:  https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/925021a2-ed4b-480c-bd9c-1f4b798c0e85

Dennis Fusaro

Dennis’ Petition Link: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/df266476-4cbe-4fcb-a7f7-3acc8e21c669

If you have already signed these candidates’ petitions, thanks and would you please pass them on to fellow voting members. If you haven’t, please take a few minutes and sign all of these petitions. You are only giving them an opportunity to be on the ballot. This is not a final vote for a candidate. That said, these are all good candidates who would bring a lot of strengths to the Board.

If you know of a candidate running by petition that is not on this list, please put their name and petition link in the comments section.

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Nominees For 2027 NRA Board Election

September 23, 2026 by

The Nominating Committee released their report and list of nominees for the 2027 NRA Board of Directors. My first glance at the list is that there are some well known names and a great number of unknowns. By my count, only 11 sitting directors were re-nominated. This means that directors like Maria Heil, Phil Journey, Todd Vandermyde, and Dennis Fusaro will only qualify for the ballot if they receive enough petition signatures. As of this past weekend, only Todd had qualified. I would still urge signing the petitions of those running by petition that did not get a nomination from the committee.

I have very mixed feelings about this list of nominees. I understand the committee can only work with whom they were given and the qualifications the Board is seeking. It is a time consuming and thankless job for which I thank the members of the committee.

I will have more as I dig deeper into the list. As things stand now, I will be urging a bullet vote and I doubt I will have nearly the number of endorsements that I offered for the 2026 election.

For now, the complete list of 27 nominees is below.

Nominating Committee Report for the 2027 ballotDownload
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Petitions For Phil Journey And Maria Heil

September 22, 2026 by

These are the final two petition candidates that I am posting who need your signatures. They are Judge Phil Journey and Maria Heil. They were left in limbo when the Nominating Committee recessed due to two pending bylaw amendments. The committee will meet again tomorrow to make the final nominations.

Judge Journey was one of the original Four for Reform and was elected in the top 5 in 2024. Phil was shunned by the old board when he came out for reform during the NRA’s bankruptcy trial and demanded an independent examiner. When I say shunned, I mean board members would get up from the table when Phil sat down. For all he has done in the past and will in the future, he deserves to be on this year’s ballot.

Phil Journey

Petition Link: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/fdfb4ab4-a440-44b5-950e-5d2ee74da3ea

Likewise, Maria Heil of New Freedom, PA fought for reform inside the NRA. She was one of the directors who helped engineer the changes in leadership wrought at the 2024 Board meeting and has continue to push for reform since then. She had been a member of the NRA Foundation Board of Trustees but was pushed out when she objected to their move to become self-perpetuating. This unilateral move by the Foundation is what eventually lead to the lawsuits currently going on. Maria was one of the people whom I met in my first Board meeting that I left feeling really glad she was on the Board of Directors.

Maria retired this spring as the Deputy Clerk of Courts for York County, PA.

Maria Heil

Petition Link: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/11542b00-6b13-48ee-ad8b-d432c4ba2927

Two reminders: Only voting members can sign these petitions and the deadline for doing so is October 13th.

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Petition Deadline For NRA Candidates Is 28 Days

September 15, 2026 by 1 Comment

The window closes for NRA petition candidates to get all of their signatures in to the Office of the Secretary on October 13th. That is hard deadline and there is no “natural disaster”, “act of God”, or other exception to that. Petition candidates need 285 valid signatures to be placed on the ballot.

A valid signature is one from a Life Member or from an Annual Member with five or more years of continuous, unbroken membership. The online signature process, to the best of my knowledge, will validate that the signer is a valid signer.

I have spoken with a number of petition candidates. Many are close but have hit a plateau and need help getting to the final number. Below are links to my earlier posts on petition candidates. I support as many people being on the ballot as possible. Choice is good and petition candidates are there because you put them there. It is why I was so determined to be doubly nominated in 2025 when I ran for the Board. No offense to the Nominating Committee but it was your signature on my petition that ultimately mattered the most to me.

Just as importantly, it shows compliance with Judge Cohen’s Final Judgment which mandated the online petition process but also urged, in so many words, the NRA to find new candidates. While the latter is the responsibility of the Nominating Committee, you as a voting member can help that process by signing these candidates’ petitions. With one exception, every candidate whose petition is below would be a “New Qualified Candidate.”

Edie Fleeman, Terri Townsend, and Chris Rakyta

Three More NRA Petition Candidates

Todd Vandermyde, David Mitten, Mark Shuell, and Chuck Cunningham

Petitions For The 2027 NRA Ballot (Repost)

Wade Callender

NRA Petition Candidate Needs Your Help

Dennis Fusaro

Petition Candidate Needs Signatures

Chuck Rowe

Another NRA Petition Candidate

I want to be clear. Each and every one of these candidates deserves to be on the ballot. Since we don’t know who the Nominating Committee will ultimately nominate, I will reserve my final endorsement on actually voting for Candidate X or Candidate Y until I see the full slate.

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Three More NRA Petition Candidates

September 10, 2026 by

Running by petition has become even more critical than ever. The NRA Nominating Committee met on August 29th and then recessed until after the September board meeting. The reason is that there are some proposed bylaw amendments that could impact who and how many the committee nominates. The bottom line is that no one other than committee members know who is or isn’t going to be a nominee.

Under NRA Bylaw Article VIII, Sec. 3(b), petition signatures must be received in the Secretary’s Office no later than 45 days “after the announced date of the meeting of the Nominating Committee to select nominees for the office of Director.” In laymen’s terms, this means a minimum of 285 valid petition signatures must be received in the Secretary’s Office by October 13, 2026. This 45 day period is a bold print bylaw which means it can only be changed by the vote of the members and that is there no leeway for signatures received after October 13th to be counted.

I believe the three women below deserve a chance to be on the ballot. I have signed each of their petitions. I am an advocate of having as large and as diverse a pool of candidates as possible for members to vote on. This is in keeping with both the spirit and the letter of the Final Judgment of the NY court.

Edie Fleeman

Edie has been a member of the Board of Directors for many years. She serves as chair of the Air Gun, Collegiate Programs, and Protest Committee as well as vice-chair of Competition Rules and Smallbore Committees. She is a long-time competitor and was the coach of the North Carolina State University Rifle Team before it was disbanded by the NCSU Athletic Department.

Edie’s petition: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/474afe09-804b-424f-b447-ac79edf9a23d

Terri Townsend

Terri, a non-director, serves as the chair of the NRA’s Black Powder Committee. She is a competitor in black powder events including those sponsored by the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association. Terri is also a member of the Competition Rules Committee.

Terri’s petition: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/2f4d9273-96e3-4726-83ca-ea020364df4b

Chris Rakyta

Chris is an accomplished smallbore shooter and is a member of the NRA’s Smallbore Committee. By training, she is a mechanical engineer and is the senior director of R&D and engineering for an Ohio-based home furnishings company. She would bring both managerial and competition experience to the Board.

Chris’ petition: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/cb399be6-fe38-477a-bcee-e4472c6e8a8f

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NRA Petition Candidate Needs Your Help

September 7, 2026 by

Wade Callender has decided to run for the NRA Board of Directors by petition. When I ran into Wade at this year’s SHOT Show he had mentioned that a run for the Board was in the back of his mind.

For those that don’t know Wade, he served as Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel of NRA-ILA for three years. Prior to that he had served as the general counsel of a software company and as a JAG officer in the US Navy. Currently, he has his own legal practice in the Dallas metro area. Wade was endorsed as a potential successor to Wayne LaPierre as EVP back in 2024 by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. More importantly, Wade stood in the way of Bill Brewer getting his hooks into ILA’s assets.

I have known Wade on a personal basis for a few years now. He has my support. Both the Complementary Spouse and I have signed his petition. If you are a voting members – life or five year continuous annual member – please consider signing Wade’s petition.

Wade’s Petition: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/925021a2-ed4b-480c-bd9c-1f4b798c0e85

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Petitions For The 2027 NRA Ballot (Repost)

August 10, 2026 by 3 Comments

Repost: If you are a voting member of the NRA and have not already signed these petitions, I’d urge you to do so ASAP. They are all off to a good start and need just a push to make the required 285 valid signatures needed to be on the ballot.

As I learned myself in 2024 when I first started gathering signatures to be on the 2025 NRA ballot for the Board, it is better to start early. Once the Nominating Committee meets and issues its report, there only remain 45 days in which to get the required number of signatures and submit them. Importantly, that is a hard 45 days with no exceptions made for natural disasters, war, or other calamities.

Some of the candidates below may also get nominated by the Nominating Committee. Frankly, in my opinion, a dually nominated candidate is stronger and was the reason I chose to continue the petition process even after I was nominated by the Nominating Committee.

The candidates below include two sitting Board members, two who served limited terms replacing two who had resigned, and one candidate who has never served on the Board but brings lots of experience.

If you are a voting member of the NRA, you are eligible to sign these petitions. A voting member is a Life Member of whatever level or an Annual Member with five or more years of continuous, unbroken membership. The electronic petition process will kick you out if you are not eligible to sign the petition or at least that is my understanding.

Todd Vandermyde

Todd is serving a one-year term on the Board of Directors. Todd brings the experience of having fought in the trenches in a blue state for gun rights as well as serving as president of the largest gun club in Illinois. He asks the questions that others either don’t think of or are too timid to ask. He lives and breathes the Second Amendment and ways to advance it. Among the board committees Todd serves on are Legal Affairs and Legislative Policy. Having nominated Todd twice for the Board, I can say without reservation he has my full support and we need people like Todd on the Board.

Todd’s petition: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/1aaf6d83-59ab-4359-8155-78ebc00caa63

Huey Laugesen

Huey was elected to a one-year term on the Board of Directors in April. He is the executive director of the Colorado Shooting Sports Association and has brought new life to that organization. Before being elected to the Board, Huey served with me on the Membership Committee and I thought he advanced effective ways to reinvigorate our membership recruiting efforts. I endorsed him in the 2026 election and would be proud to do it again. He is now also serving on the Legislative Policy Committee with me where he will be bringing, like Todd above, the experience of fighting for rights in a blue state. Huey may be the youngest director on the Board but far from the least experienced.

Huey’s petition: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/1b5b06d4-d28c-415e-abeb-33da7fb00ccf

David Mitten

David was part of the ElectANewNRA team in 2025 and finished a runner-up. When former NRA President Bob Barr resigned, David took his place on the Board. He was not on the 2026 ballot but is running this time. He currently serves as a non-director member of three NRA committees – Collegiate, Education & Training, and Gun Collectors. David is a retired teacher from Ohio who, among other things, helped develop the curriculum for the Ohio Hunter Education program.

David’s petition: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/761a1fe8-b495-489f-a92b-8870b45a8aa0

Mark Shuell

Mark was nominated for the Board in 2025 but finished a runner-up. He assumed a seat on the Board when Gene Roach resigned. Mark is a retired financial planner from Michigan who has been very active in grassroots activism in advancement of the 2nd Amendment. He won the 2023 NRA-ILA Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year award for his efforts. He currently serves on both the Action Shooting and Grassroots Outreach Committees as a non-director member. Mark in 2025 was one of those candidates left in“no man’s land”. Despite this, based upon multiple conversations with him, his heart lies with reform. He was endorsed in 2025 by Jeff Knox which probably didn’t endear him to the Old Guard.

Mark’s petition: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/e420c4e0-dd37-4f91-84a3-5bb5bd39cf68

Chuck Cunningham

Chuck is currently the Director of State, Local, and International Affairs at the Veterans Administration. In years prior to that he served as a Senior VP for Government Affairs for the non-profit Securing America’s Future Energy among other such positions. Much more importantly, he worked for NRA-ILA for almost 17 years where he served alternately as Director of State and Local Affairs and as Director of Federal Affairs. To say he would be a valuable addition to the Board is an understatement. Finally, he is assisting in raising funds for the Virginia Militia Clause lawsuit which I recently wrote about.

Chuck’s petition: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/0d00d119-aa6c-476e-9894-4617a1294855

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Petition Candidate Needs Signatures

August 9, 2026 by 5 Comments

NRA Board member Dennis Fusaro is one of the four original “Four for Reform” candidates. He and the others three – Rocky Marshall, Jeff Knox, and Phil Journey – got on the ballot by petition and won seats on the Board. They cracked open the door to reform and the revolution that followed.

Dennis wasn’t sure he’d run for re-election until recently. He has now thrown his hat into the ring and is running by petition. Whether he will be nominated by the Nominating Committee is unknown. Regardless, he deserves to be on the ballot.

I don’t always agree with Dennis but I do respect his commitment to the Second Amendment and the hard work he has done behind the scenes to promote it.

Yesterday I was on a conference call with leaders of gun rights organizations from Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Montana. This call was arranged by Dennis to gather support for an amicus brief by former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in support of overturning the bans on ARs and other semi-automatic firearms. That Dennis could pull in leaders for such a call on a Saturday afternoon says something.

Dennis has also led the effort to raise money to challenge the Virginia magazine and “assault weapons” ban in Virginia state court. While that effort lost at the initial level, I think it has a chance to go further. This was not just a spur of the moment effort by Dennis. As early as last year he was arranging conference calls with legal scholar Dr. Edwin Vieira to lay the groundwork for challenging the Virginia law based upon their state constitution’s militia clause.

If you are a voting member of the NRA, I’d urge you to use the link below to sign Dennis’ petition. The Complementary Spouse and I have both signed his petition. As a reminder a voting member is a Life member of any level or an Annual member with five or more years of continuous, unbroken membership.

Dennis Fusaro

Petition Link: https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/df266476-4cbe-4fcb-a7f7-3acc8e21c669

Dennis marches to the beat of his own drummer as we all should do. He speaks his mind and sometimes has taken his lumps for it. However, his commitment to reforming and growing the NRA and his commitment to advancing our Second Amendment rights is without question.