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Eric Toney’s NRA Questionnaire

Sep 28, 2022

Eric Toney’s NRA Questionnaire

MADISON, Wis. — GOP Attorney General nominee Eric Toney is proud to be endorsed by the NRA with an “AQ” rating, the highest grade the group bestows on a politician without a voting record.

But how did Eric Toney get his sky-high AQ rating? It’s a question worth asking.

Several months back, after Tim Michels got caught lying on a piece of direct mail about being endorsed in his primary by the NRA, a few details emerged about Michels’ true status with the NRA: he was AQ-rated, the same as Eric Toney:

“Michels’ campaign spokesperson Chris Walker said in an email to The Associated Press on Monday that the claim was an ‘unintentional error’ and has been immediately corrected with a new mailer that says Michels received an ‘AQ’ grade on an NRA questionnaire about his stances on gun rights.” [Associated Press, 7/18/22]

Did Eric Toney fill out a similar questionnaire to win his AQ rating? If so, what was on it? What extreme positions did Eric Toney commit to in secret with the NRA?

In 2018, an NRA endorsement questionnaire leaked by a candidate for the Florida Legislature revealed extraordinarily specific questions on legislation and policy views, including whether a candidate voted for a gun control law the NRA viewed as “unconstitutional” and whether they supported the NRA’s push to allow guns in places of worship.

Here in Wisconsin, the NRA has lobbied for a variety of extreme bills that would flood our streets with more guns, including legislation to legalize possession of guns on school grounds and in church, and to allow anyone to carry a concealed weapon, with no license or safety training.

“As Wisconsinites prepare to go to the polls this November, they deserve to know which of the NRA’s extreme positions Eric Toney committed to in order to score his prized AQ rating,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Rapid Response Director Marnie O’Malley. “Eric Toney has campaigned as a proud lifelong member of the NRA, and now he appears to have won their endorsement based on answers to a questionnaire voters haven’t seen. Absent answers from Eric Toney, we can only assume he fully backs the NRA’s extreme mission to flood our streets, schools and places of worship with guns.”

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