TakeBackActionFund

This blog site has been replaced by our new website www.takebackaction.org . Please click on it, we are leaving the blogs up until the time that website was established here, but no further posts are planned on this blog.

Take Back Action Fund or TBAF (also recognized by the IRS as Take Back Our Republic Action Fund) launched on May 5, 2015, three months after its sister organization Take Back Our Republic (Take Back). Some strong conservatives with deep experience in politics, campaigns, and government believed in the educational effort of Take Back, but sought to advocate policies and implement specific solutions activities which go beyond the scope of the efforts of Take Back. TBAF is a conservative, non-partisan 501(c)(4) organization, while Take Back is a 501(c)(3).  (See details on www.takeback.org ) TBAF fills the void of center-right groups working to determine the “rules of the game.” For too long, some groups on the Left monopolized these terms - rules for redistricting, voter registration, ranked choice voting, voter ID - for partisan gain. TBAF supports reforming gerrymandering to allow the citizens’ true voices to be heard through compact districts based on communit...

As Take Back Action Fund expands into new states, we present this update list of our team members. Our Team John Pudner (President) - Pudner spent 25 years running Republican political campaigns including the faith-based turnout in 16 states for George W. Bush and was first featured on Fox News after running Republican Dave Brat’s campaign to the historic upset of Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Charles Hellwig (Board Chair) - Hellwig, Wiechmann, and Pudner first worked together when all three lived in Virginia - recruiting well over 10,000 delegates to the 2-day Republican convention to nominate candidates. They worked the Virginia GOP conventions that set world records for a political convention in 1993, 1994 and 1997. Hellwig then moved to South Carolina where he built a real estate business and won political campaigns and now splits time between Myrtle Beach, SC and Raleigh, NC where he has been elected County GOP Chair, a position he...

With successful wins at the FEC, a Statewide effort in South Carolina and at ballot box, Take Back Action Fund is expanding efforts into four states for 2020. Current Projects Elected School Boards in Alabama. In their first years of running political efforts in Virginia, current members of the TBAF team fought against efforts by Democrats to prevent Virginians from electing their own school boards. Ironically decades later it is Republicans trying to take the right of Alabamians to elect their own state school board. TBAF asks voters to vote NO on Amendment One in order to preserve their right to elect the Alabama State Board of Education, rather than have it appointed by political insiders. Holding local officials accountable for policy decisions that create problems with traffic and even flooding by doing the bidding of major donors and political cronies. TBAF personnel will ask voters leaving primary precincts if they believe flooding is a key iss...

Kristi Fortenberry has been named Georgia State Director for Take Back Action Fund, the conservative leader in reforming the rules of political campaigns to stop pay-for-play efforts to distort the will of the people. “We are grateful to have Kristi leading our efforts in Georgia,” said national field director Lars Wiechman, who like Fortenburg and Take Back Action Fund (TBAF) President John Pudner learned the political process through grassroots fieldwork for Republican candidates before joining the nonpartisan TBAF.  “Kristi’s proven ability to train and maximize efforts from political canvassers to exceed quotas for Lynne Homrich (Home Depot executive running for Georgia’s 7th Congressional District) as well as train cadets to work together in team-building exercises in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) made her the perfect fit. She has won over Georgia residents in political settings and briefings and provided military briefs - making her the perfect le...

Job Description: State Organizer Organization: Take Back Action Fund Contacts: John Pudner 404.606.3163 or johnp@takeback.org , Lars Weichmann 803.747.2472  or larsw@takeback.org , Justin Hill 334.329.7258 or justinh@takeback.org Take Back Action Fund , a national, non-partisan 501(c)4 of former GOP campaign operatives seeking fiscally responsible political reforms including an initiative in Georgia to save money and stop tampering in elections by funding candidates purely as "spoilers" to change the results of elections.   Job Description: We are seeking an experienced, highly motivated grassroots organizer to help lead our state operation in Georgia.  The ideal candidate is hard-working and detail-oriented with an ability to hit metrics-based goals and build relationships with local and state office holders and conservative organizations. Coordinate with the National Field Director, a lobbyist and other personnel and follow-up with leads from a telemarket...

This week the Take Back Action Fund Board elected Charles Hellwig of North Carolina as Chair. The Board as a whole remained the same with Perry Hooper, Maria Yost, John Pudner and former Chair Randy Brooks the other four members. "Randy took TBAF to new heights, and in 2019 we raised more that twice the money we raised in our first four years combined to run ambitions efforts in Massachusetts and Georgia, and start an effort in Utah," said Pudner, who serves as the Executive Director of the groups sister organization Take Back Our Republic (www.takeback.org). "Because Randy also serves on the Board of Take Back Our Republic, we decided TBAF is growing so fast that one of the Board members who is not also on the TBOR Board should take the help as Chair." The growth enabled TBAF to also add Lars Weichmann, the TBOR National Field Director, to focus almost exclusively on the Georgia project with some effort in Massachusetts and Utah as well. Finally TBAF contra...

The following blog ran first at www.takeback.org: Yesterday Take Back Action Fund, the sister organization to Take Back Our Republic, had it’s Instant RUnoff proposal mentioned in the AJC. “The “instant runoff” proposal would require voters to rank candidates for office — first choice, second choice, thus eliminating the need for a second round of voting. The Take Back Action Fund is pushing the change, and has launched a  scaled-down website  promoting the instant runoff as a way to drive up turnout, reduce election costs and reduce the “spoiler effect” of a third-party candidate forcing overtime.  We’re also told an influential House GOP lawmaker is reviewing a draft of the proposed overhaul and could soon introduce the legislation. “ To read the article in its entirety click   here .

Take Back Action Fund (TBAF), a 501c4, completed its most successful year-to-date. Record-setting fundraising enabled the group to knock on thousands of doors in Massachusetts and facilitate conservative activists trying to bring Instant Runoffs to Georgia (see website TBAF launched here ). The TBAF Board of Directors (John Pudner (President), Randy Brooks, Perry Hooper, Charles Hellwig and Maria Yost) voted to make the shortened version of its name the official name, and the IRS website officially still recognizes Take Back Action Fund as the same group who previously used the name "Take Back Our Republic Action Fund." Previously TBAF won a case against Facebook requiring them to disclose who was paying for political ads. "The expansion of TBAF will continue to western states such as Utah," said Pudner, who ran political campaigns for two decades during which time he helped Republicans take over state legislatures in the three states in which he lived in ...

Take Back Action Fund attended the annual GOP Fish Fry in Perry, GA to explain what an instant runoff system would mean for the state. Citizens of Georgia were energized when learning about the positive impact an Instant Runoff system would make in their state. TBAF representative Noah Durham got the opportunity to meet with Governor Kemp on this effort and the idea was well-received! Currently, when no candidate receives a majority of the votes, states can handle the results in one of two ways. In some states, whoever has the plurality of votes wins. It's possible to elect a candidate with as little as 34 percent of the vote in a three-way race even if that candidate is the candidate most opposed by 66 percent of the voters. In other states, a runoff is held a few weeks later. The taxpayers have to foot the bill to have people come back to the polls to vote again between the top two candidates. This forces candidates to quickly raise and spend money for a very low tu...

When Take Back Our Republic Executive Director John Pudner visited Boston in June the reception of the message that independents, moderates, and conservatives should embrace reform just as strongly as progressive groups was overwhelming. Media coverage was swift from such outlets as the Boston Herald , Commonwealth Magazine and even the conservative radio show   The Howie Carr Show . Massachusetts-based American Promise, which will once again feature Take Back Our Republic at their annual meeting in DC, was thrilled to have the group in their home state. The outpouring from many in the Bay State included surveying residents to find out what reforms would be popular among center-right voters in a state that has been dominated by Democratic politics. Surveys show a huge number of voters in the state have no party affiliation.  The specific requests in some cases went beyond the scope of what Take Back Our Republic, a 501c3, can undertake, so the Chair of the gro...

On December 17, 2017, Take Back Action Fund teamed up with the Campaign Legal Center to win a historic victory at the FEC to require Facebook to disclose who was paying for ads. After the publicity around Russian interference, one might assume other similar rulings would follow, but in fact, group after group has failed to win in front of the FEC - making our victory, unfortunately, the only one in the arena. This summer FEC Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub addressed this issue by stating, "Americans deserve transparency when it comes to internet communications, especially as we face the growing threat of online disinformation campaigns and false political advertising. The FEC needs to do its part to combat these threats and make it harder for foreign adversaries to interfere in our elections with their influence operations. Better rules for internet ads are a small but necessary step." Other calls for transparency were highlighted in her "Internet Ad Disclaimers Rule...

Take Back Action Fund anticipates being ready to hit the ground running to both ask for donations and reach out to Bay State residents as soon as completing some compliance work with the state. We plan to address the problems with gerrymandering and dark money in the state while encouraging voter registration and participation.  On May 5, 2015, three months after launching Take Back Our Republic (Take Back), a non-partisan 501(c)3 organization (see details on www.takeback.org), the launch of www.takebackactionfund.org (a 501c4)  was announced for those who agreed advocate policies and implement specific solutions activities which go beyond the scope of the efforts of Take Back.

Take Back Action Fund President John Pudner hosted most of the Congressional candidates for a forum on campaign finance reform last cycle (see story here ), the helped pass the FixIt America resolution against gerrymandering and for campaign finance reform (see story here ). Seeing the success just north of their border, some Massachusetts residents who attended our event at the Boston Harbor a few years ago (see Reuters story here) asked us to look at reforms in their state. On May 5, 2015, three months after launching Take Back Our Republic (Take Back), a non-partisan 501(c)3 organization (see details on www.takeback.org), the launch of www.takebackactionfund.org (a 501c4)  was announced for those who agreed advocate policies and implement specific solutions activities which go beyond the scope of the efforts of Take Back.

No group writes more hysterical comments than supporters of abolishing the electoral college (see our piece in the Hill with 6,225 shares from April and the piece that brought more than 1000 comments in the first couple of hours.) I know critics often post stream of conscience comments without researching, but many could have saved themselves from their embarrassing argument which I paraphrase as:  Those who support the electoral college are siding with the 18th century small slave holding states that forced the Electoral College on the large non-slave states. Correcting their mistake before posting would have only required two quick google searches: First, click on 270 to Win and go to the first election where each state's electors were counted ( right image ), then click on the image on Wiki's history of slavery ( left image ). 1. If those who side with 18th century small states AGAINST large states are racists, then ... Alice in Wonderland. Comm...

John Pudner, the President of Take Back Action Fund as well as Executive Director of our sister organization Take Back Our Republic (www.takeback.org) ran the first forum that included almost all of this year's Congressional candidates in New Hampshire. Several of the candidates continue to follow-up, and we are now considering a possible questionnaire to enable candidates in New Hampshire and elsewhere to give statements on how they would address these reform issues. You can read the account of the forum by clicking here.

AUBURN, AL- This week the Take Back Action Fund Board, which leads a 501c4 dedicated to political reform, elected Perry O. Hooper Jr. as its newest member. He will serve a one-year term. Take Back Action Fund (TBAF) was founded 3 years ago by its President John Pudner, the Executive Director of Take Back Our Republic (TBOR), a 501c3 organization, to advocate for policies and solutions that go beyond the scope of TBOR. “Perry Hooper (left in photo above) has been a leading conservative figure for decades, and we are thrilled to add his wisdom and experience to our team,” said Pudner, who is in the Capitol Wednesday discussing the foreign trade ramifications of secret political contributions through massive unverified gift card programs that could be fixed by passing HR1341. “Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a genuine people-centric view of public service, and he has been a true reformer. His commitment to our cause, combined with the fact that he has been a part of n...