American Majority Action is a right-of-center advocacy group that engages citizens in the political process and mobilizes them to support candidates who favor limited government, individual freedom, and free markets. The organization advocates citizen engagement at the local, state, and federal levels. 1
American Majority Action is the lobbying arm of American Majority. The AMA has offices in Virginia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada. It focuses on mobilizing public opinion to promote conservative practices at federal, state, and local levels. 2
Background
American Majority Action promotes conservative principles, practices, policies, and legislation. It is the lobbying and electoral advocacy arm of American Majority, a right-of-center national political training institute founded in 2008 that says it has held more than 1,300 training sessions in all 50 states, training about 48,000 candidates and activists. 2
American Majority Action says it is dedicated to engaging citizens in the political process and mobilizing them to support candidates that favor limited government, individual freedom, and free markets. 1
The organization has offices in Virginia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada. It focuses on mobilizing public opinion to promote conservative practices at federal, state, and local levels. 2
In Virginia, American Majority Action said it had 469,463 total live connections in 2022, and 44,101 total live conversations. In Wisconsin, the group says 152 of the 226 candidates that trained won their elections. 2
History
Ned Ryun, son of former Olympic middle-distance runner and U.S. Representative Jim Ryun (R-KS), was the founder and president of American Majority, the 501(c)(3) wing, while his brother Drew Ryun became president of American Majority Action, the 501(c)(4) organization. 3 Ned Ryun later became head of both organizations. 2
Drew and Ned Ryun launched American Majority in 2008 with the goal of training conservative candidates to run for city and county offices as a feeder system to later run for Congress. The organization has roots to 2005, when the brothers drew up a document to establish a plan for a “systematic, year-in year-out, 365-days-a-year approach to identifying and training people to be a national farm team of conservative leaders.” 2 American Majority Action was founded in 2010. 4
American Majority was launched with an initial investment by the Sam Adams Alliance. 5
Activities
During the 2024 elections, American Majority Action worked on encouraging Republican voters to vote early in the politically competitive states of North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin. 6
Ned Ryun was convinced Republicans could win by banking votes, even though many in the Republican base opposed early voting in principle. After the disappointing Republican showing in 2022, Real Clear Politics reported that Ryun “had been on a one-man crusade to force Republicans to embrace absentee and early voting in earnest” when many in the GOP resisted. 7
American Majority Action focused on its successful efforts from Florida in 2022. In Ryun’s words, the AMA would “export the Florida GOP’s absentee-ballot chase program into these key battleground states in 2024.” Ryun went to donors in January 2023 to argue that AMA needed to generate more ballots from the low-propensity voters at an 80 percent rate. 8
American Majority Action established pilot programs in 2023 in Louisiana and Virginia to promote mail voting. 7
During the 2024 election, American Majority Action hired 1,600 staff. It required contacting low-propensity voters in the four battleground states between seven and nine times. The group made 11 million phone calls supporting Trump and sent almost 4 million texts to voters. The organization staff and volunteers knocked on nearly 2 million doors across the four states. 7
Criticism
In July 2024, the left-of-center Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service, and with the state attorneys general of California and Wisconsin, accusing American Majority American Majority Action of concealing donor information and putting more than half of funding behind political expenses. 9
In September 2024, the left-wing Center for Media and Democracy filed a complaint with the IRS and the Minnesota attorney general’s office alleging that the American Majority’s operational relationship with American Majority Action potentially violated tax laws. The complaint alleged that training of candidates amounted to financial support. 10
Funding
Restoration of America contributed $1,385,276 to American Majority Action in 2022. 2
The Jobs First Coalition donated $100,000 to American Majority Action in 2022. 2
Leadership
Ned Ryun, the son of Olympic middle-distance runner and former U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KS), is the CEO of American Majority Action. He is also the chairman of the board. 2 Ryun is the co-founder of the group and its sister 501(c)(3) group, American Majority. He is a senior editor for the American Spectator. He and his brother Drew Ryun wrote two books, The Courage to Run and Heroes Among Us. Ned Ryun was a White House writer for President George W. Bush. He also co-founded Generation Joshua, a youth initiative of the Home School Legal Defense Association, in Purcellville, Virginia. In 2008, he and his brother founded American Majority, and in 2010 they founded American Majority Action. Ned Ryun is a board member of the Madison Project PAC, and the American Spectator. 4
Matthew Batzel is the national executive director of American Majority Action. 2 Before moving to the national position, Batzel opened American Majority’s Wisconsin office in October 2010. He also ran AMA’s get-out-the-vote operation in the 2012 recall election supporting then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). He has a tax law background and practiced in the private sector for two years before working in both state and local government. 11
Lonny Leitner is the chief of staff for the organization, and a member of the board. 2
Kelly Amorin is the chief financial officer of the group and a board member. 2
References
- “American Majority Action.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 5, 2024.https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-majority-action/about/
- “American Majority Action.” Cause IQ. Accessed December 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/american-majority-action,263594713/
- Pappas, Alex. “American Majority wants to infuse new Tea Party blood in system.” Daily Caller. December 20, 2010. Accessed December 6, 2024. https://dailycaller.com/2010/12/20/american-majority-wants-to-infuse-new-tea-party-blood-in-system/
- “Ned Ryun.” American Majority Action.” Accessed December 6, 2024. https://americanmajorityaction.org/who-we-are/ned-ryun/
- “American Majority.” Ballotpedia. Accessed December 6, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/American_Majority
- Wooten, Alan. “Election 2024: Flipping conventional wisdom through conservatives.” June 28, 2024. Accessed December 6, 2024. https://www.thecentersquare.com/north_carolina/article_63b7f7c6-3550-11ef-864f-5f27b5c15894.html
- Wegmann, Phillip. “How Trump Voters Learned To Embrace Early Voting, Turn Out the Mail-In Ballot.” Real Clear Politics. November 26, 2024. Accessed December 6, 2024. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/11/26/how_trump_voters_learned_to_love_turn_out_mail-in_ballot_152000.html
- Kittle, M.D. “How A Handful Of Grassroots Groups Built The Ground Game Critical To Trump’s Victory.” The Federalist. November 22, 2024. Accessed December 6, 2024. https://thefederalist.com/2024/11/22/how-a-handful-of-grassroots-groups-built-the-ground-game-critical-to-trumps-victory/
- Sollenberger, Roger. “Right-wing nonprofits hit with criminal complaint for self-dealing, tax violations.” Salon. July 31, 2020. Accessed December 6, 2024. https://www.salon.com/2020/07/31/exclusive-right-wing-nonprofits-hit-with-criminal-complaint-for-self-dealing-tax-violations/
- Nolan, Michael. “Watchdog complaint accuses nonprofit of illegal political contributions to Minnesota GOP candidates.” Minnesota Post. September 11, 2024. Accessed December 6, 2024. https://www.minnpost.com/elections/2024/09/watchdog-complaint-accuses-nonprofit-of-illegal-political-contributions-to-minnesota-gop-candidates/
- “Matt Batzel.” American Majority Action. Accessed December 6, 2024. https://americanmajorityaction.org/who-we-are/matt-batzel/