A pending lawsuit filed by members of a county party against the Wyoming Republican Party may not keep those members from voting in Saturday’s election for state leadership.
The state GOP is considering letting those members it alleges were elected into their county party leadership positions illegally vote for state party leaders.
The Wyoming GOP is in an ongoing lawsuit filed by four members of the Hot Springs County Republican Party over the state party’s belief that two members of the Hot Springs GOP were illegally elected to their leadership roles in March. The state party had previously ruled it will not recognize these members.
On Saturday in Cody, the Wyoming GOP will hold its leadership elections for chairman, vice chair and secretary. Each county party gets three votes at central committee meetings, cast by their chairman and state committeeman and committeewoman.
The state party’s dispute resolution committee determined last month that the votes for chairman and state committeeman of Hot Springs County should have included two other ballots that would have changed the results of those elections.
As such, the state committee ordered a recount with the inclusion of the two other ballots, which took place at a meeting late last month, resulting in two different people being elected.
The lawsuit challenges the state party’s authority to intervene in a county party election.
At Saturday’s meeting, each county’s new officers will be ratified.
The Proposal
A set of proposed rules shared with Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday shows that the state party may consider a compromise for the high-stakes election votes by allowing all the Hot Springs members to vote — including those it believes are legitimate and illegitimate.
Under the proposed rules, the party will conduct separate votes with each group, with the results reported to the state central committee.
Former state legislator Clark Stith, the attorney representing the four Hot Springs members against the state party, told Cowboy State Daily the rules reflect a temporary solution he tried to work out with the state party’s attorneys.
The two different votes will only matter if any of the elections are determined by two or fewer votes. It’s not immediately clear which of the two votes would be counted in that event.
The proposed rules are only that and could still change before Saturday’s meeting, or be rejected or amended at the meeting.
The issue of whether the contested members, Joe Martinez and Phil Scheel, can vote or not stems from an argument over whether county party bylaws trump state laws.
State law makes it clear these members should be the elected two; however, the state GOP’s bylaws say otherwise and make it clear the additional two ballots should have been counted. The state GOP contends that the state law is unconstitutional and should not be followed.
The lawsuit itself is still active even though Laramie County District Court Judge Catherine Rogers has not yet accepted Stith’s motion for a temporary restraining order against the party prior to Saturday’s meeting, forcing it to accept the disputed members.
No hearings have been scheduled yet in the case.
Who’s Running?
Sheridan resident Bryan Miller is running for state chair against Jackson resident Rebecca Bextel. Whoever wins will replace outgoing Chairman Frank Eathorne.
Miller has been involved in the state party for longer, but Bextel has shown recent involvement and a particular ability for fundraising. If she wins, she will be the first female chair of the state party in about a decade, when former chair Tammy Hooper last held the seat.
For vice chair, Meeteetse resident Bob Ferguson is running against Riverton resident Ginger Bennett.
For secretary, Donna Rice is running unopposed for reelection.
For all of these elections, nominations for candidates can still be made from the floor during the meeting.
The state party elections will be conducted in a runoff style, with the winner needing to get at least a 50% majority of the votes.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
