NRA Endorsement: Frank Tait

In years gone by, I have done a round-up of various endorsements for the NRA Board of Directors. This year there is only one person who deserves your vote for election to the NRA Board of Directors. That person is Frank Tait.

I have gotten to know Frank fairly well over the past three years. He has the qualifications needed to represent the members of the NRA on the Board. These qualifications include being a NRA Training Counselor as well as an impressive business background in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Even more important, he has stepped up seeking intervenor status when it was obvious that neither the NRA leadership nor the New York Attorney General’s Office was looking out for the membership in the dissolution lawsuit. That took courage and that took initiative. If that was the only thing he ever did that would have been enough to secure my vote.

It should be noted that Frank Tait is on the ballot by petition. He is the only petition candidate. That means he was put on the ballot by the members. The remaining 29 candidates on the ballot were put there by the Nominating Committee. That means they were all vetted as people who wouldn’t rock the boat and who would be good loyal “friends of Wayne.” Anecdotally, I have heard that when Judge Phil Journey made his motion for an examiner in the NRA bankruptcy case there were board members furious at the Nominating Committee for failing to ensure he would be a faithful “friend of Wayne”. I think they probably learned their lesson – unfortunately.

With the death of John Cushman and the resignation of Todd Rathner plus the 76th Director elected at the Annual Meeting, 28 out of the 30 people on the ballot will be elected. To increase the odds that Frank is elected, you need to “bullet vote” for Frank.

Jeff Knox explains it below:

By casting a ballot with only Frank Tait’s name marked, it leverages that vote, improving the odds of Frank’s election, and reducing the chances that any votes I might cast for other candidates might help push Frank down in the overall rankings, costing him a seat.

The February issue of the American Rifleman and Shooting Illustrated had an article by Jason Ouimet, Executive Director of NRA-ILA. In big bold red letters it said “Your Vote Matters.” While he was talking about the Virginia gubernatorial election, the same could be said here. The average NRA Board election has a 5-6% turnout of the eligible voters. That is pitiful and is a primary reason the same old “friends of Wayne” get elected year in and year out. If you want to see change, you need to vote and encourage your friends who are voting members to vote. Of course, that vote should only be for Frank.

Frank Tait will be one of 76 on the Board. That in and of itself won’t give him much influence. However, if elected, he can resume his motion to intervene in the dissolution lawsuit. He would have a statutory right to intervene and this time he could not be denied by Judge Cohen for not being a board member.

It is time to elect someone who is going to look out for the members and not him or herself.

NRA Ballots Are Arriving

I heard today that the ballots for the 2021 NRA Board of Directors’ election have started to arrive. It will come in the official journals of the NRA which include American Rifleman, American Hunter, America’s First Freedom, and Shooting Illustrated. If you are a either a Life Member of any category or a five-year continuous member, you are eligible to vote and should be receiving a ballot.

As I wrote back in November 2020, there are no petition candidates on the ballot. That means everyone on the ballot was selected by the Nominations Committee which is dominated by “friends of Wayne”. Of the people nominated, only Owen “Buz” Mills is worthy of your support. He had the fortitude to stand up for the members during the NRA bankruptcy proceedings. Everyone else on that list of nominees thought it more important to stay in Wayne’s good graces and not offend the powers behind the throne.

There are also two write-in candidates running for the board. It should be noted that no one has even been elected directly as a write-in candidate. Charlton Heston, as I understand it, was elected as the 76th Director because he did appear on a few ballots as a write-in.

The two write-in candidates are Frank Tait and Rocky Marshall. As Frank Tait notes, it is essential that their names be listed exactly as shown below or they will be disqualified. Rocky Marshall stood up when it was time to be counted and deserves to stay on the board.

I am a strong believer in bullet voting and these three are the only three I would encourage you to give your vote. Voting for 25 candidates dilutes your vote. You are giving equal weight to both your number one preferred candidate and your 25th preferred candidate.

There is one person on the ballot who should not get your vote. That is Carolyn Meadows. She has served as an enabler to both Wayne LaPierre and William Brewer and that is unforgiveable. As part of the Special Litigation Committee, she helped pave the way for the NRA to waste another $10 million on their abortive attempt at getting out of New York by way of bankruptcy. If only half of that money had been used in the Georgia US Senate run-off elections, perhaps there would not be a Senator Warnock (D-GA) nor a Senator Ossoff (D-GA). This would have been the bulwark needed to stop Joe Biden and his cronies plans to eviscerate the Second Amendment and our God-given rights to self-defense.

I will be voting for Buz Mills directly and for Frank Tait and Rocky Marshall by write-in. No one else will be getting my vote.

2020 NRA Board Endorsements – A Round-Up

The ballots for the 2020 NRA Board of Directors Election were included in the February issues of the official magazines. Those who get the magazines electronically should have received their ballots separately in the mail. If you haven’t received your ballot and you think you are eligible to vote, contact NRA Membership Services at 1- 703-267-1000. Ask for membership. (Correction courtesy of Dave V.)

Completed ballots must be received back by March 29th. Late ballots will not be counted.

The first published endorsements that I saw were from Lt. Col. Robert Brown of Soldier of Fortune Magazine. Col. Brown has been a member of the Board of Directors for a number of years and has been a somewhat independent voice on the board. He endorsed six people for the Board. He notes elsewhere he is NOT voting for Charles Cotton, the current 1st VP.

  1. Steve Schreiner
  2. Tom Arvas
  3. William Carter
  4. John Cushman
  5. Curtis Jenkins
  6. Robert Mansell

Ammoland News is endorsing only two candidates this year: Anthony Colandro and Graham Hill. They go on to say:

Based on the last years’ controversy at the NRA AmmoLand News is very cautious in who we are endorsing as we wait and see how the NRA’s legal challenges work out. Graham Hill is one of those Directors that we know very well and have much respect for his work and trust his leadership skills can help guide the NRA in the year to come. Please Bullet Vote only for Graham Hill and Anthony Colandro when you return your NRA ballot.

Two New Jersey based organizations, the Coalition of New Jersey Firearms Owners and the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, have quite naturally both endorsed Anthony Colandro for re-election. Colandro is also the Exec. VP of ANJRPC. CNJFO says this in their endorsement of Colandro:

Anthony’s DECADES of Second Amendment activism experience, fighting for all of us, with a target on his back, is the thing legends are made of! Leading rallies, testifying for gun owners at hearings held at our state capitol, hosting Tony Simon’s Diversity Shoot and the Second Amendment Women Shooting Club–SAW at his range. He never stops fighting! His in-your-face weekly radio broadcast reaches millions of gun owners nationwide.

The Trigger Pressers Union (a training organization) has endorsed Frank Tait and Jim Wallace. Klint Macro, the head and founder, is also endorsing Todd Ellis and Anthony Colandro according to their Facebook post.

Next up is Save the Second. The organization itself has not endorsed any candidates. They have, however, provided a valuable service by creating a guide to all candidates which can be found here. It has many links to candidates’ social media sites, endorsements, and biographical information.

They also have produced a 2 1/2 hour YouTube where they discuss the candidates. It is worth watching.

The individual directors of Save the Second have made their own recommendations independent of the organization.

Anthony Garcia:

  1. Anthony Colandro
  2. Graham Hill
  3. Robert Mansell
  4. Todd Rathner
  5. Steve Schreiner
  6. Frank Tait

Ron Carter:

  1. Anthony Colandro
  2. Graham Hill
  3. Frank Tait

Rob Pincus:

  1. Anthony Colandro
  2. Graham Hill
  3. Robert Mansell
  4. Todd Rathner
  5. Steve Schreiner
  6. Frank Tait
  7. Jim Wallace

Rob Pincus goes into some more detail on his picks in this Ammoland article.

Jeff Knox is someone whose endorsements I take very seriously. Thanks to growing up the son of the late Neal Knox he has a knowledge and institutional history of the NRA that few can rival. He has seen the NRA at its best and worst.

Jeff is blunt on what the NRA faces and the assortment of candidates on this ballot.

The NRA is in deep trouble. I honestly expect indictments and financial sanctions to be coming down very soon from investigations being conducted by the New York and DC attorneys general and other agencies. All of these troubles tie directly back to Wayne LaPierre and the NRA Directors who allowed him to abuse his power so egregiously. If the Association can be saved, it’s going to require Directors willing to make hard decisions and stand firmly on principles. This ballot doesn’t offer a lot of hope for that, but we must do what we can with what we’ve got.

Jeff has made both endorsements and non-endorsements. The non-endorsements are those who should not get your vote under any circumstances. These include Charles Cotton, Ron Schmeitz, and Alan Cors. Rejecting these three would, in Jeff’s words, send a “loud message to the Board and the powers that be.” He also mentions John Cushman who is running by petition. Cushman has been on the Board off and on for 20 years. Jeff considers him part of the problem and not part of the solution.

In years gone past, Jeff has endorsed bullet voting. This year he has broadened the number of candidates he supports. They include:

  1. Frank Tait
  2. Phillip Journey
  3. Niger Innis
  4. Jim Wallace
  5. Anthony Colandro
  6. Mark Vaughn
  7. Mark Robinson
  8. Robert Mansell
  9. Kevin Hogan
  10. Paul Babaz

Finally, as a reminder, I am endorsing both Frank Tait and Graham Hill. I think both are excellent candidates and worthy of your support. I am also suggesting bullet voting. The NRA Board election is what is termed in political science an “approval election“. This means there are multiple candidates running for multiple seats and you can vote for as many candidates as there are seats. Social scientists have written extensively on approval elections and on voting strategically in these elections.

Since you cannot rank order your preferences, if you vote for as many candidates as there are open seats, then your most favored candidate is equal to your least favored candidate. One merely needs to look to the presidential election of 1800 to see the consequences. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr both got the same number of electoral votes even though one was running for president and the other for vice-president. This became known as the Burr Dilemma. That election was ultimately decided in the House of Representatives.

If you see other endorsements for the Board that you think should be highlighted, please comment and include a link to the endorsement with your comments.