Action 4 Liberty (A4L)

A4L is known for its “Never Again” petition to end what it calls the governor’s “unilateral emergency powers,” an effort conducted through pledge drives and public lists of signers/refusers. ^{3  4} A4L has advocated for a “Give It Back” surplus-rebate wherein state budget surpluses are returned to taxpayers instead of being put towards statewide programs, has sponsored a school choice petition, and has produced the “toughest liberty scorecard in Minnesota,” which ranks all Minnesota state senators and representatives based on conservative voting record. ^{5  6  7}

A4L was co-founded by Jake Duesenberg and lay minister Jack Rogers in 2013. ⁸ As of 2025, former Minnesota state Rep. Erik Mortensen (R) is A4L’s president.  ⁸ In the organization’s 2023 Internal Revenue Service filing it reported $269,027 in revenue, $300,883 in expenses, and $15,506 in assets, and the organization has run the Action 4 Liberty PAC since 2017. ^{9  8}

Advocacy

During and after COVID-19, Action 4 Liberty made curbing the governor’s emergency powers its signature effort. The organization’s Never Again Petition urges lawmakers to end what A4L calls “unilateral emergency powers,” and its ongoing Never Again Pledge campaigns publish public rosters of signers and refusers. Former Minnesota state Rep. Erik Mortensen (R) championed the Never Again effort during his tenure in office and is in charge of the effort within the organization.  ^{8 10}

A4L has framed large state budget surpluses as over-taxation that should be refunded to taxpayers rather than spent on statewide programs. A4L organizes petitions and messaging around returning “the whole surplus” in its “Give It Back” campaign, which, if successful, would “demand a recorded roll call vote on the tax refund bill and any procedural motions related to it.”iv

A4L has supported school choice, using petition pages and fundraising in accordance with the organization’s “educational freedom” pillar.v

A4L publishes an annual Minnesota legislative scorecard, described as the “toughest liberty scorecard in Minnesota.”vi Through the scorecard, A4L operates public campaigns to pressure Republican legislators it labels “RINOs” into supporting more conservative positions. A4L also supports primary challengers who better adhere to A4L’s issue positions against Republican legislators. ¹¹

Media and Elections

In February 2022, state Rep. Nolan West (R-Blaine) was forcibly removed from an Action 4 Liberty caucus-training event in Blaine over alleged concerns about allowing politicians to attend. State representative Donald Raleigh (R-Blaine) said he also attended but was not asked to leave, and prosecutors later declined to file charges in the incident. ¹²

In March 2022, police were called twice to the Morrison County Republican convention after disputes broke out between A4L activists and local party leaders. A4L-backed candidate Nathan Wesenberg, who was seeking the party endorsement for state Senate District 10, and his supporters challenged party procedures and clashed with convention organizers. Law enforcement intervened, though no arrests were made. ¹³

Later in 2022, A4L-aligned activists and candidates began to mount challenges against Republican incumbents across multiple districts, tallying eight A4L-affiliated contenders for the 2022 midterms. ¹⁴ By March 2024, two A4L-aligned candidates—Grayson McNew in HD-41A (Lake Elmo/Afton area) and Tom Dippel in HD-41B (Cottage Grove/Hastings area)—won Republican Party endorsements over more conventional right-leaning candidates in two eastern-metro battleground districts. ¹⁵ While McNew ended up losing the Republican primary to more moderate Republican Wayne Johnson, Dippel successfully won the Republican primary to represent state house district 41B, and both Johnson and Dippel went on to win their districts in the 2024 general election. ^{16  17}

Finances

In 2023, Action 4 Liberty reported $269,027 in revenue, $300,883 in expenses, and $15,506 in assets for 2023, a decrease from $424,868 in revenue and $464,595 in expenses in 2022. In 2021, the organization reported $607,439 in revenue and $586,227 in expenses, with net assets of $87,089. ^{9  8}

A4L has also operated the Action 4 Liberty PAC since 2017. In 2022, the PAC reported independent expenditures totaling $954.80, which covered costs for a Minnesota State Fair booth rental and printing expenses. The filing listed “Walz, Tim Gov. Committee” as the “affected committee,” a designation under Minnesota law that indicates which campaign was referenced by the PAC’s materials but does not signify a contribution to or support for that campaign. ¹⁸

Leadership

Action 4 Liberty has been led by former Republican state representative Erik Mortensen, who has worked as the organization’s president. The group was co-founded in 2013 by Jake Duesenberg and lay minister Jack Rogers, and Duesenberg has continued to play a leading role in organizational development and public campaigns. The organization’s 2023 IRS filings list Todd Friesen as the chairman of the board of Directors.  ^{8 9  8}