Because I couldn’t find the voting statistics outside of the NRA Annual Meeting this year (had to run out early to cover the protest), I didn’t do much follow up on the new board members beyond who was actually at the board meeting the following Monday.
I assumed, very wrongly, that Erik Estrada was a top vote-getter who was simply blowing off the organization once he won. I’m not as opposed to celebrities on the board as others, but I do believe that part of what they “bring” to the board in that case is a willingness to at least be known as an actual sworn-in member of the board. (Unlike, say, Karl Malone who, as I understand it, has never even shown up to be sworn in as a board member, never mind even try to symbolically attend a meeting and pretend to give a damn since I’ve been going to these things.)
Anyway, I’m glad I never posted about it because it turns out that Estrada did the right thing. He would have come in sixth place by votes, however, according to the report from the Secretary, he contacted NRA to let them know that his schedule would no longer allow him to participate. So he actually withdrew from the election. Seriously, kudos and applause all around for him doing the responsible thing.
This year, that effort is especially noteworthy because we lost some very experienced board members who bring unique skills to the board. I cannot tell you how many people on the board, on staff, and who are just highly involved in the organization were lamenting the loss of seriously dedicated and talented board members, partially due to the sheer number of celebrities up in one year. With Estrada actually withdrawing from the election, it means that the next highest vote-getter was elevated to the top 25 winners. It helped ease some of the displacement issues.
I figure it’s worth mentioning when someone does the right thing. Tomorrow’s topic: how NRA members participate in the elections. There were actually measurable differences this year, but not for reasons you might think.
