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