WASHINGTON — Today, Heritage Action, a conservative organization with two million grassroots activists nationwide, released a statement from Executive Director Jessica Anderson announcing Catherine Gunsalus to lead the organization’s expanded state lobbying efforts as State Advocacy Director.
“We are excited for Catherine Gunsalus to join the Heritage Action team as we expand our state advocacy efforts across the country. With her vast knowledge and experience working in state legislatures and executive offices, Catherine knows what it takes to build a grassroots advocacy campaign that will bring impactful change at the state level. Her work as Assistant Secretary of State brings vital experience to the work of conservative elected leaders across the country working to ensure their states have election reforms in place to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
Catherine leads Heritage Action’s lobbying efforts in states across the country. In this role, she is responsible for being the head advocate and managing a growing team of state lobbyists across the nation on issues such as election integrity, education reform, defending the lives of unborn children, and other issues of critical importance to the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of Americans.
Catherine is a longtime political heavyweight in the state of Kansas. Prior to joining Heritage Action, Catherine served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Kansas. During her tenure with the Secretary of State, Catherine managed an office of approximately 35 staff, including nine direct reports and a $14 million-dollar budget, directed federal grant expenditures for enhanced election security in Kansas, oversaw state election integrity policies, and successfully managed the execution of the 2020 election in Kansas. Prior to her appointment as Assistant Secretary of State, Catherine successfully managed a statewide campaign for the now-elected Secretary of State and served as Chief of Staff to the Speaker Pro Tem for almost five years in the Kansas Legislature. She is originally from Florida but has called Kansas home for more than a decade.
Background:
Heritage Action invested an initial $10 million into a first-ever state advocacy campaign to secure and strengthen state election systems. Throughout last year, Heritage Action worked with state governments and grassroots leaders to advance common-sense best practices to ensure their elections are secure, transparent, and give every American confidence in the electoral system.
Heritage Action activists supported lawmakers in states like Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Georgia by registering and testifying in support of election integrity reforms.
In August 2021, Heritage Action launched a movement to save our schools from critical race theory, equipping parents and concerned activists with ways to keep Critical Race Theory (CRT) out of the classroom.
Heritage Action is a grassroots organization with two million conservative activists nationwide. Heritage Action advances the policies of our partner organization, The Heritage Foundation, and works to make them a reality.
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