petition candidates

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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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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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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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Another NRA Petition Candidate

July 1, 2026 by 1 Comment

Chuck Rowe is seeking to be on the NRA Board of Directors ballot for 2027 by petition. I supported him as a write-in candidate in this past election as did Jeff Knox. Chuck was a runner-up in the 2025 election and briefly served on the Board.

While on the Board, Chuck did yeoman’s work in rationalizing competition rules of the NRA so that it fit in with both international rules and the CMP’s rules. To me, that was a thankless job and not one that I’d want to undertake. Fortunately, Chuck was there.

In his daily life, Chuck is a Certified Public Accountant with extensive experience as a CEO and in private equity. We need business experience like that on the Board.

Just as importantly, Chuck has served as captain of the US Rifle Team, is a NRA National Championship title holder, and received the NRA Master Distinguished Coach Medal. Having someone with these credentials helps broaden the perspectives on the Board.

Chuck’s petition link is below:

https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/574c3ee4-3d5a-40ed-bce0-d7ab1d6142f9

I have sent Chuck’s name to the Nominating Committee for consideration. However, a dually nominated, by the Nominating Committee and by petition, is a stronger candidate.

I would encourage all voting members to give Chuck’s petition your consideration. As a reminder, a NRA voting member is either a life member of whatever level or an annual member with five or more years of continuous, unbroken membership.

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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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85 Days And Counting

July 15, 2025 by 2 Comments

The NRA Bylaws (Art. VIII, Sec. 3(b)) state that all petition signatures must be received within 45 days after the Nominating Committee meets. With the Nominating Committee meeting on August 23, 2025, the cut-off date to submit petition signatures is October 7, 2025 or 85 days from now. The bylaws as they stand now have no provision for the extension of this date for force majure, hurricanes, or any other thing that would make it hard to get the signatures to the Office of the Secretary on time.

Click picture for link

The other deadline that is critical is August 3rd. This is the day by which names are to be submitted in nomination to the Nominating Committee for consideration. You can nominate a candidate for the Board of Directors online. You will need both their membership number and your own membership number along with addresses, etc. Just to be on the safe side, I think a conversation with the person you are nominating would be a good first step. He or she might have other commitments that would make serving on the Board a problem.

If running by petition, a candidate needs 0.5% of the number of participating voters in the prior year’s election. For 2026 this number is 363 which is one of the lowest on record. In the past, petitions were always on paper and each signature had to be verified by hand in the Office of the Secretary. However, as the New York court mandated in the fifth point of its Final Judgment, an online version is now available. I have signed a number of these already.

The one major limitation on obtaining signatures is that they must come from a voting member. A voting member is either a Life Member or an Annual Member with five years of continuous, unbroken membership. With many Annual Members dropping their membership due to their disgust over the excesses of Wayne and his coterie of friends, it is not as easy to find voting members as it was pre-2019. I and many of my fellow petition candidates certainly ran into this problem last year.

To run by petition, a candidate needs 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.

Judge Cohen’s order in the Final Judgment specified that the Nominating Committee was to “endeavor to identify up to 20 additional candidates” who met the required qualifications (Life Member of 5 plus years) and who did not serve more than one term on the Board prior to 2022. Judge Cohen referred to these as “New Qualified Candidates”. His goal was to expand the pool of nominees on the ballot and to bring new people and new ideas to the Board of Directors. He had noted it seemed the same people were getting nominated and elected year after year.

2025 was a watershed year in that 14 Directors were elected who had never served on the Board in the past. New directors are either Chair or Vice-Chair of five committees including critical ones such as Finance and Elections. Moreover, new directors are a majority on the Audit Committee which is a committee of the Board under NY Non-Profit Corporation Law.

Enough about the logistics.

The Board will only be as good as those nominated and elected. We need good people with the dedication to both the Second Amendment and board governance to run. We don’t need ticket punchers or resume polishers. We have had enough of those in the past! It goes beyond showing up to Board meetings three times a year. We need hard workers who will do the committee work necessary to help rebuild this 154 year old organization.

I have reached out to Buz Mills who is the chair of the Nominating Committee for skills they are seeking. I will post his response here when I get it. I can say from my own perspective that candidates with management, marketing, and finance skills, experience in non-profit governance, grass roots advocacy, and social media skills are especially welcome. I would also say that younger candidates who can reach out to millennials and Gen Z to become members are doubly welcome.

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Rob Beckman For NRA Board

June 25, 2025 by 1 Comment

Trainer, podcaster, social media influencer, and IT professional Rob Beckman is running for the NRA Board of Directors by petition. I fully support Rob and consider him just the sort of well-qualified reformer that we need on the Board.

If you are a Life Member or a 5-year continuous Annual Member, I would urge you to sign Rob’s petition.

You can find it here.

During my run for the Board, Rob interviewed me on his Firearm Trainer’s Podcast. He stood solidly on the side of reform and electing reformers. He is a strong believer in using education and training as way to both get back to the NRA’s roots and to rebuild our membership. Further, he believes as I do in effective and proper governance is the way to restore the faith of the members in the NRA.

If you look at Rob’s LinkedIn profile and biography here are some things that jump out at me.

  • Business experience – Senior Project Manager for a global industrial company
  • Non-profit experience – currently VP & Hunting Director of Ohio Rifle and Pistol Association and former Board of Directors of Dan Beard Council, Scouting USA
  • NRA Training Counselor
  • Social Media experience – Firearm Trainer’s Podcast
  • Hunter – Not only hunts but is a hunting safety instructor

This is the type of person we need on the Board of Directors and I would urge you to sign his petition.