At least four former state legislators will have a critical say in Wyoming Republican Party politics moving forward.
Former House Speaker Albert Sommers, and fellow Reps. Tony Niemiec, Mike Greear and Lorraine Quarberg were all elected as chairmen to their local county parties in this year’s elections.
The four will bring a unique level of experience to the state central committee, as the Legislature is generally considered a higher level of politics than internal party politics.
But the Wyoming GOP also has some surprising power at times, usually in charge of selecting finalists for vacancies in statewide positions.
This has occurred twice in the past three years, when the superintendent of public instruction and secretary of state positions both became vacant in 2022.
The party also has gained nationwide attention for its censure of former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, and frequent media attention for its increasing trend of censures and condemnations in recent years, issued against figures like Gov. Mark Gordon and various state legislators.
The more conservative wing of the Republican Party has held a firm grip on the state party at least since Chairman Frank Eathorne’s first election win in 2019.
County GOP parties across the state held their local elections over the course of March, with around a handful few still remaining.
Drama In Laramie County
Quarberg, who served in the Legislature from 2005-2012, was named the county party chair in Laramie County. She did not immediately respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment.
Quarberg beat former state committeeman Dallas Tyrrell by about seven votes in the election.
Cheyenne City Council member Michelle Aldrich, who was elected county party secretary, said Quarberg and the other county party officers unquestionably represent the more moderate, “old guard” camp of the party.
“The old guard is coming back in,” Aldrich said. “The people aligned with the conservative coalition did not get reelected.”
Tyrrell said lies were spread against him during his county chair campaign, which he found disappointing. He expects his local county party’s feud with the state party to resume under the new leadership.
“It’s a power control and not what’s best for the party,” he said.
During his two years as state committeeman, Tyrrell made raising money, recruiting new members to the party, and particularly younger people, a focus, as well as mending the Laramie GOP’s relationship with the state GOP by paying its outstanding dues.
In a post on Facebook, former county chair Dani Olsen disagreed, saying the new leadership team will bring back “productive family vibes” to the party.
“I am so thrilled that I was able to help and support an incredible and deserving group of people get elected to the leadership of the Laramie County Republican Party,” she wrote. “Their experience and fiscal conservatism will get the party back where it needs to be so we can fund candidates in the future.”
The Laramie GOP’s Facebook page was deleted shortly after the election and replaced with an “unofficial” page run by Rep. Ann Lucas, R-Cheyenne, who represents the more conservative wing of the party.
Aldrich, who doesn’t consider herself in either the more moderate or conservative camps, hopes a better sense of unity can prevail within the party over the next two years.
“It’s a tough party right now,” Aldrich said. “For some reason we tend to focus on what we don’t agree on more than what we do and circle around and fire inward since there’s no Democratic Party in Wyoming to go after. We’ve reached a point where Republicans attack each other instead.”
Why Do It?
Sommers, who served as House Speaker from 2023-2024 and in the Legislature for 11 years, said he was nominated for chair and didn’t attend the actual election in Sublette County.
He said the only comment he made before being asked to run is that “he’s not afraid to lose.”
“I didn’t really have an ambition to become chair,” Sommers said. “I’m going to do my best to represent the Republicans of Sublette County.”
Although Sommers was already a precinct committee member and has attended a number of state GOP meetings over the years because of his role in the Legislature, he considers this to be his first experience working on the “inside” of the party.
Joining Sommers on his local executive committee is former county commissioner Joel Bousman as vice chair and former county clerk Mary Lankford as secretary.
Niemiec handily beat his opponent in the Sweetwater County party election, 2024 state House candidate Laura McKee.
He hopes for a more measured, less reactionary response from the state party when it comes to public censures and reprimands.
When considering that state legislators make 400-800 individual votes per session, he said no lawmaker should be publicly chastised for making 1-2 votes that don’t align with the state party platform.
“What your constituents wanted may not agree with the state party, reprimanding them for that is not right,” Niemiec said.
Another example Niemiec gave was his vote against convening a special session in 2024. He thought this would’ve been a waste of money and pointed to the fact that many of the bills that would’ve been brought up at the special session ended up passing into law during this year’s session.
Greear, who served as Speaker Pro Tempore and in the Legislature from 2011-2022, also was appointed to the University of Wyoming board of trustees this spring by Gordon.
He’s also been involved with the Washakie GOP on varying levels since the 1990s.
“It was time to get involved again,” Greear said, explaining how only when former chair Tami Young decided to not run again, he volunteered for the position. “I’ve been involved for a long time.
Greear ran unopposed to be Washakie County GOP chair and hopes his past experience chairing committees at the Legislature will help him running meetings with a larger group of people.
Other Party Action
In Teton County, the local county GOP party unquestionably shifted to the right with the election of Katherine Rueckert as chair, David Scheurn as state committeeman, and Rebecca Bextel as state committeewoman.
Scheurn is one of the leading members of conservative advocacy group Honor Wyoming. Bextel has been a vocal critic of many Teton County governmental policies including affordable housing, openly opposing her local elected officials on numerous occasions at the Legislature.
State party vice chair David Holland told Cowboy State Daily this winter he’ll only run for reelection if someone nominates him.
Sheridan County GOP Chair Bryan Miller is not running for reelection and is instead planning to run for state party vice chair, however he also wouldn’t rule out to Cowboy State Daily on Monday that he may run for state party chair.
Eathorne has formally announced he’s not running for reelection. Bextel is the only person to officially announce their candidacy for state party chair. The state party elections will be on at the May 3 Central Committee meeting in Cody.
Jim Schellinger of Sheridan Media and James Temple are running to replace Miller as local chair.
In Natrona County, the political leanings of the executive committee stayed roughly the same, with former county commissioner Rob Hendry named chair.
In Uinta County, sheriff’s office investigations sergeant Rowdy Dean was elected chair.
In Carbon County, former chair Joey Correnti has become vice chair of the party after taking a few years off.
A number of county party elections still hadn’t taken place yet as of early Monday evening including Park, Converse, Weston and Crook.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
